The Virginia Tech killer’s decision to mail NBC News a rambling manifesto and self-made photos and videos of himself flashing weapons created the classic dilemma for journalists. While the material helped explain “why?” it also gave a mentally ill murderer the publicity he craved.
The decisions began with NBC. Network news chief Steve Capus told The Washington Post that editors there decided, after much discussion, that the material was newsworthy because it helped explain why Cho Seung-Hui became a mass murderer. Others disagreed with that decision, including the Canadian Broadcast Corp. (An earlier verion of this post said CBS. My mistake.)
In this 24/7 digital media world, newspaper editors no longer are effective community “gatekeepers” of national and international news. Bill Kovach, a former editor of mine, once observed: “Our old notion of journalist as gatekeeper is obsolete. The Internet has torn down all the fences.” What newspaper editors focus on now is weeding out inaccurate information and putting news in context and perspective.
Once the material was reported by NBC, other news organizations had to decide whether and how to use it. Herald-Leader editors discussed the options and decided that, disturbing though it was, the material was the biggest development in the day’s biggest story and shouldn’t be ignored or minimized. Most other newspapers reached the same conclusion.
“I know many people will say we’re doing just what the killer wanted, splashing his picture across the front page,” Herald-Leader Visuals Editor Ron Garrison said. “But if you look at the timing and significance of his actions, the videos, the self portraits, we would be doing a disservice to the public to soften the blow that these disturbing images tell us about this sick young man.”
Several readers have called or written to criticize our decison. They said that by putting the killer’s picture and words in the paper — or at least on the front page — we were “publicizing” or “glorifying” him. A couple even said it could “encourage” other sick people to follow his example. I understand their viewpoints, but I disagree.
The biggest question in readers’ minds about this tragedy is “why?” This helps answer that question. The front-page package also included a story by staff writer Mary Meehan about the difficulties schools face in dealing with mentally ill and potentially violent students.
As Herald-Leader editors, we think our job is to report the news as accurately and completely as possible and to help readers understand it. Our job is not to sanitize the news, manage it, psychoanalyze it or think of all the possible ways it might affect readers.
That said, don’t expect to see those photos in the paper much more, if at all. The news is moving on.
Tom Eblen
Managing Editor
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