Virginia Tech

After all the recent criticism about the media coverage of the shooting on the Virginia Tech campus it got me thinking about how the media can never do anything right. Most recentaly NBC has been highly critized about showing the killers home made video on air that is very explicit and offensive. But what if no one ever saw the video? What if the media had it in their hands and never showed any of it. Again as consumers would would be angry and upset that we did not see it. Because our media is commercial driven they are constantly trying to give the advertisers more viewers. They need the high ratings to succeed. When that video is in their hands it is shock value, they having something that will bring in the viewers. So again what are they suppose to do with that sitting on their shelves. Maybe they could only show select parts, things that are so disturbing, but then again they are picking and choosing what we should see. For the news stations that made statements about not showing the tape and relateing it to "pornography", are they holding back news from us? Are they gaining attention because they are better than the other news stations and do not need to show the tape?

In this situation no one knows what is right. But the media should have the ability to show things that are relevant and not be jumped on for being insensitive. The media is a business, and they are looking for ways to succeed. The media gives us the outlet and responsibility to see and hear what we desire. Maybe we need to be critical or maybe we need to look back at ourselves and see why we are angry, or crave this type of news story.