Here's one ally that most people opposed to the airing of Cho's material would surely just as soon do without.In an MSNBC column, Siva Vaidhyanathan claims that NBC News' decision to air the material was unfair to, that's right, Cho the mass murderer.
In Material from Killer Should Not Have Aired, Vaidhyanathan does note en passant that the airing "ultimately was disrespectful to the victims and their families." But the lion's share of his column is devoted to complaining that NBC was "exploitative of Cho's condition and that of all severely mentally ill people."
We will see sick attempts at humor, bigoted jokes about Korean immigrants and chilling calls to violence. And we will see a proliferation of hateful material that will be an assault on the mentally ill and their families.If Vaidhyanathan's argument is shocking, here's one thing that won't surprise you. He's an associate professor of Culture and Communication at New York University.
All over the country, families of mentally ill people are worried that because of Cho's attacks and his frightening visage on our screens, our society will further turn against their loved ones, moving from malign neglect to outright hostility.
We already systematically fail to provide care for the mentally ill. This neglect often results in tragedy but rarely ends in violence. Already we hear calls that the mentally ill are inherently defective or, as an op-ed in The New York Times on Thursday claimed, "born evil."
So, does this video collage help or hurt the cause of confronting mental illness in this country? I am afraid the latter. Even if NBC News did not intend to do such harm, it did.
Speaking of surprises, I never thought I'd ever write these words, but here goes: hat tip to Eric Alterman at Media Matters.
Contact Mark at mark@gunhill.net
—Mark Finkelstein is a NewsBusters contributing editor and host of Right Angle. Contact him at mark@gunhill.net.
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"We will see sick attemp
April 20, 2007 - 15:27 ET by ForeverOnTheRight"We will see sick attempts at humor, bigoted jokes about Korean immigrants and chilling calls to violence. And we will see a proliferation of hateful material that will be an assault on the mentally ill and their families."
Did we see anything like this after 9/11? Not to my knowledge. We rather saw liberals tippy toeing around the subject of Islam so as to not offend Muslims. We'll see the same thing here. Their is no reason for Siva to get bent out of shape over this. The mature will not avoid what Shiva fears, and the immature I hope will be few and can be ignored.
On the other hand the airing of the video was wrong all the way around right now. Wrong for the victims, wrong for Cho’s family, wrong for Cho perhaps and distasteful to the public. Their was no need to air the video on the network. Maybe years from now when it can looked back on as history, maybe just maybe then it will be o.k.
So concerned about backlash
April 20, 2007 - 20:23 ET by JerrySo concerned about backlash.. and yet, they will eagerly propagate propaganda about military torture, peeing on Korans, etc, which without a doubt, puts the lives of our soldiers in jeopardy. They do this without a single care about the truthfulness of the story, nor the consequences of inflaming Muslim hatred toward our military. Simply unfathomable.
When asked if he went to war with Iraq to derail the impeachment
vote: “I don’t think any serious person would believe that any
President would do such a thing." - President Clinton (Dec 1998).
Siva Vaidhyanathan just one more ugly exploitive face.
April 20, 2007 - 15:27 ET by CTSiva Vaidhyanathan is just one more ugly exploitive face that's found a way to glom onto this tragedy.
dear mark finkelstein.
April 20, 2007 - 15:47 ET by tumbler_2007From all I see here, (haven't read his column,)
This writer is sore at the network and only the network. We shouldn't pick out an ambiguous clause in it about "unfairness to the killer," without acknowledging absolutely that the only ones culpable are NBC and its stations. His context is pretty straightforward. Exposing the brain-dead murderer to the worlds' hatred doesn't serve his victims. It serves nobody, and least of all us.
What happens is that sick people are made to share in somebody's else's guilt by association. There are many hundreds of thousands of schizoids circulating in public today who will NEVER harm anybody. But by exhibiting the one mass murderer so thoughtlessly, all are made to seem unfit to live. At least that's the impression I have about this columnist's POV.
This is one of the reasons wh
April 20, 2007 - 15:37 ET by rubylensThis is one of the reasons why I wrote in other threads that I think releasing the Cho videos will ultimately turn out to be a good thing. I don't think those videos cast Cho in a flattering light at all--they make him look like the pathetic, evil, nonsensical wacko he was. But unlike Vaidhyanathan, I think it's great to reveal Cho's inadequacy like this. Only those who are already completely bonkers could possibly be able to relate to the Cho we saw in those videos (and even they might be put off by his lack of a coherent message). Those who are just angry, isolated young men contemplating doing something drastic will most likely be severely turned off by the nerdy, mumbling, incoherent nutjob revealed by the videos. I'm sure anyone looking for inspiration was quite disappointed that the glamorized movie villain they imagined in their heads turned out to be far, far less in reality.
Having worked in mental healt
April 20, 2007 - 16:45 ET by danboHaving worked in mental health, I have mixed feelings about the airing of the tapes and his pontification.
I hate seeing the families, and those with near misses going through hell again.
But there's a problem the media and the law/government is ignoring. the political correctness in mental health. Where too often mental health workers hands are tied. Untill it's too late. Because to force treatment is a violation of patient rights.
That may be what we need to discuss. Unless you want to ban every potential weapon from guns, to propane tanks, to fertelizer and deisel, to box cutters. Banning weapons is a joke.
"The urge to save humanity is almost always a false front for the urge to rule.” H.L. Mencken
Cho's Korean heritage
April 20, 2007 - 16:58 ET by nkviking75"We will see sick attempts at humor, bigoted jokes about Korean immigrants and chilling calls to violence."
Maybe I've missed it, but I have yet to hear anyone say anything about Cho's heritage in any context other than as a fact of his biography. The MSM is dwelling on his ethnicity far more than anyone else, as far as I know.
When you put the clowns in charge, don't be surprised when a circus breaks out.
VTech
April 20, 2007 - 18:34 ET by Emma GrumpHow about this : "We will see sick attempts at humor, bigoted jokes about screwloose NYU professors who try to elevate this mass murderer to the status of "human being"".
It's hard to decide whether
April 20, 2007 - 21:29 ET by dervishIt's hard to decide whether to be offended, or just dismissive, of the good Dr. Vaid. He is afraid we knuckle-draggers will lump Mr. Cho in with all the other mentally ill people who aren't dangerous, and then turns to argue that Mr. Cho is merely mentally ill, lumping him in with all the other mentally ill people who aren't dangerous. If I had a mentally ill loved one, I'd be pretty angry at that.
Calling this murderer evil doesn't denigrate other mentally ill people. In fact, the opposite is true: it highlights what made him different from them. This silly belief that mental illness and evil are mutually exclusive -- "he's not bad, he's just sick" -- is exactly what left Cho loose to commit his crimes. He knew he was about to do a bad thing; he knew his act would shock the world, and he was damned proud of it. In that respect he was no different from the 9/11 hijackers, and no less a criminal.
Mentally Ill
April 20, 2007 - 22:01 ET by Cool ArrowDr. Vaid in his omniscience expects we matter-of-factly concede Cho Punka Hoe was mentally ill. Is this another of those "the vast majority of scientists agree" situations?
Why do we immediately accept this diagnosis so readily? Isn't it just possible Cho Punka Hoe was a hate filled Liberal who expected the world to kiss his feet?
He was a murderer. Dr. Vaid wants more consultant/air time.
Mentally ill and hate filled
April 20, 2007 - 22:22 ET by danboMentally ill and hate filled liberals are not a mutually exclussive group.
"The urge to save humanity is almost always a false front for the urge to rule.” H.L. Mencken
You are correct
April 21, 2007 - 00:32 ET by Cool ArrowYou're correct, they're not. But touchy, feely "he called me names" and here's the real kicker: "It's all your fault" "materialism is evil blah blah blah waaah! Look what you are making me do. I'm a martyr like Jesus"
Yeah, the murderer was a dyed in the wool Liberal who believed the Capitalist system was the greatest evil ever to disgrace the earth.
I guarantee you this: He got his support for his ME ME ME ego from a bunch of covetous, do-nothing but whine liberals.
The last place a Liberal would look for solutions is inward. It's always "If I had their money, I could make this world work"
Maybe he's writing about what
April 21, 2007 - 03:50 ET by Andrew H.Maybe he's writing about what he knows. Maybe he's writing about what he does. MSNBC is a joke as the networks are jokes. Nothing to see or read except DNC talking points--pinhead stupidity.
Liberalism is a convenient lie.
The "victim"
April 21, 2007 - 08:11 ET by goldenthroatLeave it up to the "Militants Say, Nobody But Clinton" network to once again spin this in favor of the criminal and not the victim! Is it any wonder left-coast, bleeding-heart, 'do-as-I-say-not-as-I-do' liberals are treading on shaky ground with wanting to enact more gun control?
Never dance on an empty stomach unless it's a liberal.