Top television channels defend airing Cho’s video

BY A CORRESPONDENT

24 April, 2007

World’s top television channels have defended showing the video of Cho Seung-hui, who gunned down 32 people on the Virginia Tech University campus. They justify the airing of the video by saying that it was a relevant part of telling the full story behind America’s most horrific campus massacre.

The BBC confined itself to showing clips of Cho Seung-hui’s tirade, which was first aired on the NBC network of the United States. The BBC, 24 hours after its first transmission, no longer used moving images on its bulletins or news channels, according Peter Horrocks, BBC’s head of TV news.

John Ryley, editor of Sky News, said the tape gave a crucial insight into what motivated Cho to gun down 32 people before killing himself.

Peter Horrocks said the video had been editorially relevant for audiences, though he stressed the importance of “contextualising’ clips with expert opinion.

He added that BBC never replayed numerous times large parts of the footage – that was mailed to NBC by Cho himself during his rampage – on its 24-hour news channels, BBC News 24 and BBC World.

If the BBC were to receive a similar tape, Horrocks said, he would first speak to the police and also try to inform family liaison officers so that relatives of victims could be warned. After taking these steps, the BBC would probably have transmitted some parts, though not all, of the tape.

John Ryley, editor of Sky News, said his channel would also run a tape of that kind after speaking to family liaison officers.

NBC’s decision to broadcast the Cho tape provoked anger from the police, students and victims’ relatives in the United States.

Media critics argue that giving the tape such a wide airing satisfied Cho’s apparent desire for posthumous notoriety and could encourage future killers.

Parents of some of Cho’s victims, who were shocked by the video, cancelled planned interviews with NBC.

Steve Flaherty, head of Virginia state police, remarked that he was disappointed in the NBC’s editorial decision to broadcast the distressing images.

However, Steve Capus, president of NBC, defended the broadcast, saying “this is as close as we will ever come to being inside of the mind of a killer, and I thought that it needed to be released.”