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Member Since: 4/2007Last Seen: 9/16/2009

Should the VA Tech Shooter's manifesto be released to the public ?

News Type: Event — Seeded on Wed Apr 18, 2007 4:59 PM EDT
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I recently heard on the radio that the Va Tech shooter sent a manifesto and photos to NBC news in NYC. That information is now being reviewed by the FBI. This is breaking news and will be posted at the seeded link when the site is updated. Whether NBC will be allowed to release this information is still not known. However should the killer's manifesto be released to the public now, at the height of the tragedy, what possible good will that accomplish ?

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{"commentId":650321,"authorDomain":"roger3000"}
roger3000

Saw some of it ...sick..

{"commentId":650321,"threadId":"95059","contentId":"670936","authorDomain":"roger3000"}
  • 1 vote
Reply#1 - Wed Apr 18, 2007 8:00 PM EDT
{"commentId":650483,"authorDomain":"The-Voice-of-Reason"}
The Voice of Reason

You're right it is sick, but I did not need to see it to know this. Time and again, the media gives air time to murderers. This will serve as another incentive for suicidal loners to kill others to gain the attention and revenge they crave, it worked for him, and the rest before him. Does the media have any social responsibility ? Or is Imus the exception? For once I will like to see the media bury the murderers with their manifestos, and not publicise their last words. What good will airing his manifesto do?

{"commentId":650483,"threadId":"95059","contentId":"670936","authorDomain":"The-Voice-of-Reason"}
  • 1 vote
Reply#2 - Wed Apr 18, 2007 9:41 PM EDT
{"commentId":652002,"authorDomain":"zaki"}
Zaki

Well let's see, American Cable News have no problem airing Bin Laden tapes days before U.S. Presidential Elections, I don't see why not air this one.

You can't have one and not the other. That's why I watch Al-Jazeera International. There's no censorship, they show everything, including the reality of the Iraq war. They show the coffins draped in the American Flag to emphasize the reality of this war, unlike Fox News & Company, who just talk about it as if it was mere potatoes. Why do you think Vietnam ended? As soon as they started showing all these dead american soldiers on TV, a lot of people went in the streets revolted. On Fox News / MSNBC / CNN, all you hear is the numbers, no footage. It's not surprising that it does not affect people's psyche unless they have a active militaryrelative or friend currently in Iraq/Afghanistan.

In my opinion, air it, but not on TV, put the manifesto just on the internet, so that those who are interested in the story can read up on it, and those who do not want to see it, do not have to.

I'm not that much interested in the videos, because from the bits that I saw, it's very incoherent. I'm interested in reading his crazy 1600 words page, and maybe a psychologist could read it and give us an analysis as to what mental illness this man had. He was definitely delirious, but why. When did he snap, how long as it been since he went crazy. 1 year? 2 years?

{"commentId":652002,"threadId":"95059","contentId":"670936","authorDomain":"zaki"}
    Reply#3 - Thu Apr 19, 2007 1:53 PM EDT
    {"commentId":652045,"authorDomain":"The-Voice-of-Reason"}
    The Voice of Reason

    I'm not calling for censorship, it's just that the media determines what's newsworthy, what they would air and what they will not. If these men did not kill anybody and they sent news station a tape, the station probably would not air their speech or manifesto. My main peeve is that the media should not give more publicity to killers then they deserve. I agree they should not air it on TV, but I'll got a step further and say the media should not distribute it all. Leave that to the authorities and the psychology schools to distribute it for analysis. People should not get the idea that murdering will entitled them access to the mass media.

    {"commentId":652045,"threadId":"95059","contentId":"670936","authorDomain":"The-Voice-of-Reason"}
      Reply#4 - Thu Apr 19, 2007 2:05 PM EDT
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