NBC Airs Virginia Tech Gunman Tapes, a Massive Lapse in News Judgement
I’ve been getting a bit off topic on this blog lately in reference to the Virginia Tech tragedy. I think it’s understandable. This post, however, at least is somewhat on target for a blog that discusses media relations.
I watched the TV with a look of horror on my face on two different days this week. The first time was on Monday while watching news coverage of the mass murder at a school my brother and a number of friends and business associates attended. The second time was tonight while watching NBC Nightly News. NBC made a monumental error in news judgement tonight when they aired video and images sent to them by Cho Seung-Hui.
Here’s the background in case you haven’t heard: In between his shooting sprees on Monday at Virginia Tech, Seung-Hui went to the post office and mailed a package via overnight express to NBC. It contained multiple images, videos, writings, and even an audio recording. The pictures showed Seung-Hui posing with guns, knives, and even a hammer. The videos contained, from all appearances, the incoherent ramblings of a young man who was disturbed almost if not completely beyond repair.
NBC received the package today because it didn’t have the proper zip code or street name on it (The New York City postmen don’t know where NBC is? Really? C’mon…) NBC’s Brian Williams said during the newscast tonight that when they received the package, they immediately contacted the authorities and turned its contents over. What’s more accurate is that they contacted the authorities, made copies of everything, turned over the originals, and then aired the copies on national television.
Not only did they air the tapes and lead their newscast with them … they went back to show more at the end of the newscast after teasing the story during the whole show.
When I was a radio reporter and news director, there were rules that guided my actions when it came to situations like this. They were relatively common in the news business. They were, in no particular order:
- Do not air stories about suicides unless they involved someone well known in the community.
- Do not air stories about bridge jumpers or people threatening to jump off of bridges.
- Do not air the demands or diatribes of hostage takers or murderers.
There are probably others, but you get the idea. These rules were made for good reasons: To try to avoid wackjobs using the media as a way to become famous, and to try to avoid encouraging copycats.
It’s the second portion of that rule that is in play with NBC’s decision to air what’s being called The Seung-Hui Manifesto. The man was obviously incredibly sick. Sadly, there are a lot of sick people in this world. If only one of them saw that newscast tonight and thought, “If I kill enough people they’ll air my message,” what will happen next? Perhaps I’m being overly dramatic. I hope I am, in fact.
Apparently I’m not the only person who feels this way Check out this blog entry from John Walters at NBCSports.com. It was written before Nightly News aired, and it doesn’t mention his employer by name, but it states in surprisingly strong language the same concerns I’m expressing here. Here’s an excerpt:
All of which is to remind the producers at these news networks that every extra minute you devote to the murderer from this point on–as opposed to the 32 victims, most of whom we’ve not even seen a photo of thus far– makes you complicit the next time this happens. All you’re doing is assuring the next fanatic that he’ll receive far more than just 15 minutes of fame.
Fact is, NBC had an incredible exclusive. A chance to scoop everyone in the world on the biggest story of the year thus far fell right in their laps. Instead of doing the right thing, such as discussing the tapes and package on air but not actually showing any of it, they jumped at the chance to turn into something akin to Inside Edition in order to gain additional ratings points.
At this point, you might be rolling your eyes and muttering, “Well you watched it, didn’t you?” True. I’m also not a psychopath. I’m not the kind of misguided person that might be given ideas by the indescribable lapse of judgement by NBC. Really, with 99.99999999% of the people in the audience, airing the tapes doesn’t concern me. However, it’s the .000000001% that may have delusions of grandeur dancing in their heads that I’m worried about.
Shame on you, NBC. I knew better as a 27-year-old news director at an all news radio station in Richmond, Virginia. Why don’t you?
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I absolutely agree. I posted the same type of thing on my blog. I can’t think of a worse, more inappropriate choice that CNN and MSNBC and the other stations could have done at this time, to inflict more pain on the victims and show a complete lack of judgment.
http://www.carolynnduncan.com/2007/04/18/cnn-msnbcs-inappropriate-choice-of-content/
Good post on your site, Carolynn. I think the sort of thing we’ve been seeing since Monday have, unfortunately, been par for the course for a number of years. I think NBC News crossed a line tonight, though, going far beyond what has become the norm.
AMEN AMEN and again I say AMEN and thank goodness there seems to be some people still sane and not lacking common sense…
Since when is it bad to share news with the public, or should everything that is deemed inapropriate for society be hidden from the public too?
I think it has to do with responsibility. Giving a crazed gunman who just killed 30+ people a forum like that may only encourage other imbalanced people to consider that they, too, could have that forum if only they can kill enough people.