As this tragic week for college students comes to a close, I have been pondering one large question over and over again: Should NBC have aired the footage of Cho that he mailed to them after killing two students and before massacring 30 more?

I am a journalism student at a large school of communications, and issues like this one are highly debated in our classrooms. We are constantly given situations in class that a news director or journalist might run into and asked to figure them out ethically. I understand that NBC receiving this footage was a ratings jackpot and it would be hard to keep it contained…But I have come to the conclusion that NBC betrayed fundamental journalistic principles.

Was it wrong for NBC to air Cho Seung Hui’s Video?

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“Cho was a loner and authorities are having a hard time finding information about him”

(Read the rest of the article here)

I’ve been checking CNN.com as much as possible these last couple of days, reading updates about VTech, wanting, like everyone else, answers. I want to know why. Who. Who does this sort of thing and why?

As of 2:00 pm this afternoon, nobody really knows. Authorities have his name, but that’s about it. They have his name and they know he was “a loner”.

I’m tired of that word. I’m sick and tired of hearing it attached to these boys who walk into their schools and shoot innocent people. When we’re grasping for reasons, grasping for solutions, this is word we keep slapping on the front page of every media outlet going to print. He was a loner. As if that explains everything.

It doesn’t. It never has. Not to me.

What does the word loner even mean? These killers had no friends? These killers never talked to anyone around them? They ate alone? They had no roommates? They never raised their hands in class? They didn’t interact with their families? They had social issues that everyone could feel? They dressed strange? All of the above?? Read More »

We’ve all created groups on facebook for various reasons — boredom, procrastination, humor… But yesterday, many of us took the time to dedicate our groups to something serious, something real — the horrific, sad, scary shooting at Virgina Tech.

I heard what happened on the news yesterday. I was shocked. But I can’t say what happened to those poor, unsuspecting students hit me until this morning when I saw the many V-Tech memorial groups on facebook. I saw pictures of the actual students who were shot and killed having fun with their friends, enjoying college, living a carefree life like the rest of us. I read other students’ comments from other schools and felt the sympathy and sadness in their words.

Check out the links to the memorial pages. Read More »

As the horrific events transpired today in Blackburg, Virginia, students, faculty and family members at Virginia Tech found themselves in an unfathomable position- searching for information about the shooting, the shooter and the condition of their classmates, loved ones and friends. The answers just don’t come quick enough as they wait painfully for any information concerning the who, what, where when and why.

As the 24 hour news stations recycle the same 5 minutes of available information, the people of VTech have turned to Facebook in effort to assemble the pieces for themselves. Students are sharing first hand accounts, overheard stories, and names of potential victims- providing them with unprecidented access to information that until now has only been available to the authorities.

In addition, new profiles and groups are rapidly appearing on the site offering condolences and prayers from students around the country. Facebook has become much more than a place to find a “hook-up” or a kegger, but rather a virtual townhall for the VTech communtity to begin a dialog and somehow find a way to pick up the pieces.

Below are some of the Facebook profiles created today:

Extending Our Greatest Sympathies to VTech.

This must stop.

Always Remember Virginia Tech.

As the day of absolute shock comes to a close, students and the community torn apart by this event prove that they can band together in this time of need.

See the photos of support here.