The pictures originating with NBC (GE) and expanding to most networks has created outrage to the point where the networks have said they'll cut back on their usage, while Fox (NWS-A) said they'll stop using them altogether.
They got the message when family members of the victims cancelled scheduled appearances on the NBC Today show because they showed the pictures.
NBC justified their actions saying, "The decision to run this video was reached by virtually every news organization in the world, as evidenced by coverage on television, on Web sites and in newspapers," NBC said in a statement. "We have covered this story -- and our unique role in it -- with extreme sensitivity, underscored by our devoted efforts to remember and honor the victims and heroes of this tragic incident."
The network added that they believed airing the material helped to provide answers to the question of why Cho Seung-Hui murdered the 32 people and then 
killed himself.
Of course this is all meaningless, once the content was shown it went everywhere and everybody saw it. There's not a network in the world that doesn't know that once a picture or video is shown that it will be shared all over the Internet, networks and the world.
Showing footage of the killer and showing footage of the carnage are two different things. I haven't been watching the news lately, but I hope that the networks are not showing the youth's carnage.
Posted by: Nite | April 19, 2007 7:26 PM | Permalink to Comment