CBS ombuds-blogger Brian Montopoli advises "Taking a Step Back In the Cho Debate" in an April 23 post, as he takes issue with conservatives like Hugh Hewitt who objected to NBC News (and other media outlets) airing the videotaped "manifesto" of the Virginia Tech mass murderer. Montopoli concludes on this note:
If, as a culture, we want to suppress the Cho manifesto, than we have to ask ourselves what else we are willing to suppress. After all, the Cho materials at least had some value beyond entertainment; it's harder to say the same for cultural products like "Grand Theft Auto" or "300." It seems to me that anyone criticizing NBC News for releasing the materials – and CBS News and its counterparts for airing them – should be thinking long and hard about how far down that path they are willing to go.
The analogy is fundamentally flawed, of course. "300" and "Grand Theft Auto" are fictional entertainment products that are designed and marketed to specific audiences. Some conservatives argue that violent movies and/or video games should be discouraged by the marketplace and marketed only narrowly to mature audiences, but the notion that conservatives do or logically must favor "suppression" of fictional violence is ludicrous.
What's more, there was nothing graphically violent in Cho's tapes per se. The objection to airing Cho's rantings is centered on the responsibility a news organization has to not encourage copycats of real-life violence. Journalists can, should, and every day do exercise editorial restraint in sensitive stories.
There's no reason other arrangements could not have been made at NBC News, such as relegating the video to the MSNBC Web site or transcribing the video and reading select portions of it on air while depriving Cho the chance to speak from the grave to a grieving nation.
—Ken Shepherd is Managing Editor of NewsBusters
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The liberal mind works in str
April 23, 2007 - 17:15 ET by bassndudeThe liberal mind works in strange ways. Nonsense mingled with stupid.
Save a SeAL, club a liberal!!
bass....Forgive me, but I had
April 23, 2007 - 17:19 ET by Clear thinkerbass....
Forgive me, but I had no idea that liberals thought. Don't they go on emotions?
The liberal MSM has become an enemy of the USA.
Clear, if you will notice, I
April 23, 2007 - 18:48 ET by bassndudeClear, if you will notice, I did not say that they had any thought process, just a working mind. It has to work. To keep their eyes open, even tho they cant see, and their mouths working to form words, no matter that they dont make sense....No thought, just strange going ons in there...
Save a SeAL, club a liberal!!
Also lets not forget that 300
April 23, 2007 - 18:42 ET by AtheistRepublicanAlso lets not forget that 300 had a good mesage behind it, fighting for whats right no matter what, the value of freedom, ect.. Really its a very respectable movie, and the violence wasn't glorifying evil men at all, unlike Cho's manifesto or whatever you want to call it, in fact 300 was all about gloryfing good in its struggle against evil. By showing Cho's video NBC shows that evil people get what they want, in Cho's case that was recogintion
N o matter the "thought" process
April 23, 2007 - 19:31 ET by c5thenBehind that non-sensical piece...The issue of interfering with an investigation and the possible destruction of evidence comes into play.
NBC received a package form a known mass murderer only a few days after the crimes were commited. Rather than notify the FBI immediately and taking care not to damage or destroy any evidence, NBC decides to copy all the materials first and then turn them over to the authorities. Any possible forensic evidence was either destroyed or hoplessly compromised by that irresponsible decision.
As it turns out, there was no important evidence on the materials that would have helped according to the FBI anyway, but the point is that no one knew that until after the potential destruction had already occured.
The Communist Takeover Of
April 23, 2007 - 20:47 ET by liberal_bug_zapperThe Communist Takeover Of
America - 45 Declared Goals
24. Eliminate all laws governing obscenity by calling them "censorship" and a violation of free speech and free press.
25. Break down cultural standards of morality by promoting pornography and obscenity in books, magazines, motion pictures, radio, and TV.
____________________________________________________
"It is a general popular error to suppose the loudest complainers for the public to be the most anxious for its welfare." ~ Edmund Burke
Montopoli misses the whole po
April 24, 2007 - 10:27 ET by GalvanicMontopoli misses the whole point of the argument. It was inappropriate to air Cho's tapes and still photos because doing so only encourages other psychopaths to strive for the same notoriety. One need only look at Cho's references to the Columbine killers to see the effect of these things.
The only thing we learned from the tapes was what we already suspected: Cho was deranged. NBC could've had the same news exclusive had it merely summarized the tapes in a description.
Instead, it saw an opportunity to bolster ratings with the 'gift' Cho had placed in their collective lap, and it went for it. Could Cho have selected NBC to deliver his final message because he sensed it had the least conscience of the 3 major networks?
Psychopath is a choice
April 24, 2007 - 11:04 ET by Cool ArrowOK, so the guy chose to immunize himself against social responsibility.
And we want to Monday morning quarterback that all the signs were there. We don't see Alec Baldwin under mental evaluation, do we.
Why do we as a society refuse to believe that some people are just plain evil?
"Why do we as a societ
April 24, 2007 - 11:10 ET by MightyMouth"Why do we as a society refuse to believe that some people are just plain evil?"
Liberals ,being the idealist that they are, think "Evil" is treatable.
"There are two types of people in this country; those who provide freedom and those who enjoy it." MM says...