Thursday, April 19, 2007

Your Reactions

I want to take a moment and share some viewer comments that NBC17 has received, in regards to the use of the video and images of Virginia Tech shooter, Cho Seung-Hui.

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“PLEASE remove the picture of Cho pointing a gun at the world from your web page.  I find it offensive, distrubing and frankly, uncalled for.  Pictures of the those poor innocent students should be displayed.”

“Would you please do your viewers a service and STOP showing those disgusting pictures of the terrorist at Virginia Tech.  Have you thought anything about the families of the victims?  Have you thought about that fact there may be other troubled people seeing those pictures and deciding the publicity is GREAT, and go out and do the same thing?”

“There is no reason to show them and you are doing exactly what he wanted the media to do…YOU are continuing his act of terrorism.  Shame on you!”
“NOBODY needs to see what those poor students saw first-hand.  Show some compassion, we’ve stopped watching the Today Show and until we know producers and reporters are showing some common sense, we will NOT watch.  I know you’re not the only ones showing them, but your network was the FIRST and should have had more feelings for PEOPLE, not ratings.  How would you all feel if a member of your family was involved and traumatized?”

“Please don’t aire the garbage that was sent in by that man!!  By so doing, you are continuing his power over all of us, which was his wish!  Use your power as the media and take away his ability to further hurt this Nation!”

As always, I welcome your thoughts and feedback.

Jason

VT Massacre Video: NBC17’s Statement

There has been a lot of discussion about the use of the VT Massacre pictures and video, by NBC News. 

As a local news organization, we have a responsibility to report the news. I want to take a moment and explain to you what we have decided, as it relates to NBC17’s use of the massacre video and images.

Below is a statement from NBC17 News Director, Nannette Wilson.
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The decision to air the video and statements from Cho Seung-Hui was not made lightly by NBC 17 News.

Like NBC News, careful consideration was, and continues, to be given to all aspects of this very difficult story.  We recognize the sensitive nature of this particular material for the families of the victims, the Virginia Tech community and all of our viewers who are undoubtedly affected by this story. 

We agree with NBC News that Cho’s statements and videos may offer some insight into the critical question of why a person would commit such a horrible act.  We want to give our viewers an opportunity to see and judge for themselves.  We also want to give viewers the option of not watching the video by warning them about the nature of this content before it airs. 

There will be limited use of the video going forward, and we will continue to warn viewers if and when we do. 

As always, we encourage feedback from our viewers and find their input invaluable in our quest to serve our community better, every day.