Massacre in Blacksburg--What have we learned? (FINAL)

Monday morning, I awoke shortly after 8 a.m. and began preparing for my day that I thought would be just like every other. I hurried off to my first class where I was surrounded by 18 other strangers who I have come to know only because of classroom discussions and the daily roll call. When the clock reached the top of the hour, I rode my bicycle back to my house, as I do every day and turned on the television while I got a bite to eat.

What appeared before my eyes instantly captured my attention, as news anchors on every major network reported a tragedy at Virginia Tech University involving the death of students, much like myself. I knew right then that this day was anything but ordinary, especially for those students in Blacksburg, Virginia.

A student who may have seemed typical at first glance opened fire and killed a female student in a residence dormitory before murdering the resident adviser. Two hours later, after filming and mailing to NBC a “manifesto” package describing his motive, he walked into a classroom and proceeded to massacre 30 more people and wounding many others, before taking his own life.

Now, this heartless killer is becoming infamous and his manifesto is broadcast over all the major networks for the world to see.

The media have abused their technological capabilities in an effort to boost ratings and increase profits. The ethical line was drawn when network editors were forced to decide whether or not to air the killer’s multimedia manifesto. As the nation became sucked in to television news drama of reporters hugging the wounded victims and political icons expressing their sorrow, NBC released submitted videotape, pictures and transcript detailing the ruthless murders of these students. The line was crossed at this point, because some would argue that it was unethical and didn’t sustain any news value by furthering or advancing the information in the story. Rather, this manifesto glorified the killer by giving him an immense amount of airtime to broadcast his message.

NBC should have been more mindful and cautious when deciding whether or not to air the images. I feel sorry for families of the victims who have to deal with seeing the killer of their child, sibling or relative every time they turn on the television. There is no way that seeing this insane murderer wave a 9mm pistol all over the television, will help with coping after such a tragedy.

I also hope that other unstable, depressed or otherwise insane people across the nation do not become inspired by the notoriety of this killer. Criminologists suggest that these types of murders are similar to those that occur in political arenas. The killer sets out to send a message and utilizes every media outlet possible to do so. Al Queda did it effectively after 9/11 and Cho Seung Hui attempted it last week.

On a local level, these tragic events that occurred Monday morning have also made me more aware and cautious of the people I associate with every day. We don’t always abide by the golden rule and treat each other with the respect that we all deserve. I think Cho Seung Hui was obviously insane but the root of it may have been in broken relationships and hateful events in his past. Often times, we are so caught up in the activities of our day that we take for granted so many things that could change in an instant and affect us for the rest of our lives. The students that accompany us in class may seem typical at first glance, just like Seung Hui, but perhaps they have depression and anger built up inside of them. We need to embrace each other as peers and friends, regardless of disagreements or physical differences. Everybody needs a hug from time to time or just someone to talk to. We encourage you to open your hearts and minds to a stranger because you might just be the difference that sparks a change of plan before another tragedy strikes.