Yesterday, NBC News revealed that Virginia Tech shooting gunman Cho Seung-Hiu sent them a package of photographs, writings, and video - a "multimedia manifesto." The network turned over the materials to the authorities but also shared the package's contents during the evening news last night and on its website.
Quickly, the images of Cho holding guns in both hands, pointing a gun at his head, pointing a gun at the camera, and more, started to be seen everywhere as video of Cho's words played on TV and online (CBS News offers a Flash slideshow of the photographs on the homepage). The Washington Post reports that the letter sent to NBC, sent Express Mail but misaddressed, was similar to the letter found in Cho's room.
While photographs, ramblings and video of Cho are part of the story, we wonder if it's too much. The NY Times has a short article about NBC's decisions. Well, it describes NBC's actions, but doesn't illuminate exactly why the network decided to air and release much of the contents. There's only this quote from Brian Williams: “This was a sick business tonight, going on the air with this,” he said. The Washington Post's Howard Kurtz had some more insight: Apparently NBC wrestled with the decision about what to air (Kurtz also references the NY Times' and WP's decision to print the Unabomber's manifesto), but decided to air much of it, though Williams tried to warn viewers. The Daily News has an article titled, NBC Delivers Final Sick Message, while a forensic psychiatrist told Good Morning America that showing the video on news networks was a "social catastrophe."
As more details are revealed about Cho's mental health history (being hospitalized at one point after complaints he was stalking two women on campus), some suggest the school should have done more while other news outlets are trying to offer "warning signs" on how to spot a killer. The South Korean community, both in the U.S. and in South Korea, voice their sympathies as well as concern about a backlash against them. And Cho's parents continue to be described as a nice, quiet, hardworking couple by neighbors, who managed to send their children to college (Cho's sister graduated from Princeton and is currently a State department contractor).
Professor Liviu Librescu, an engineering professor who students say helped save them by standing in front of a door as they escaped out windows, was remembered yesterday during a funeral in Brooklyn. Assemblyman Dov Hikind gave the eulogy, and while Librescu had no "known connection" to Borough Park, the Sun reports that hundreds paid their respects.
Mayor Bloomberg has ordered all city flags to be flown at half mast through Sunday. Local politicians are asking that colleges and universities to have a summit about security responses (the News points out that the NYPD has close relationships with the city's colleges). And the Manhattan Hokies have planned a candlelight vigil for tonight at 7:30 PM, Washington Square Park. They are also collecting donations for a memorial fund.
Photographs of restaurant diners in Blacksburg, Virginia watching the the NBC Nightly News last night by Amy Sancetta/AP
