“Mass murder is wrong. But if I were a mass murderer, I’d be Mickey and Mallory!” – An awestruck fan, Natural Born Killers
The news division at NBC must have been thick with crack smoke yesterday, because apparently a critical mass of People In Charge thought it would be a really nifty idea to broadcast the manifesto, photos, and videos of a raging psychopath. This madman, whose name and image I will not use to avoid contributing to his Google footprint, was therefore perversely lionized, exactly in accordance with his wishes.
Hey, any of you aspiring mass murderers out there: be sure to send your posthumous spittle-flecked ravings to NBC, because the stupid sons-of-bitches will actually broadcast it.
I realize that many other news organizations also showed this footage, but NBC’s hands are dirtiest. They had the power to prevent this material’s proliferation, and willfully elected not to.
Where was the good sense that kept the decapitations of innocent civilians at the blades of radical Islamic fundamentalists off the air? Where was respect for the victims’ families? Where was simple decency?
There was no legitimate public interest in NBC showing this material. To do so was dangerous, irresponsible, and indefensible.
You might also like:
- We can and should differ with respect
Yesterday before, during, and after the Ford and Kavanaugh testimony may have been a new low point o… - Media bias is to be dissected, not bludgeoned
As part of my university curriculum, I studied media bias extensively. With a degree in communicati… - Prayers for Ashleigh Jones
Pulling for East Limestone second-grader Ashleigh Jones tonight, who darted back into traffic after … - Smoke it up, baby!
All I know is we didn’t have COVID-19 back when we could smoke at our desks. — Just Bill (@WilliamA… - The BoWilliams.com #Oscars 2015 recap!
OK, here’s what I got, mostly from Twitter: Gift bags for these poor, needy stars were valued at $16…
I for one wanted to know what was going on in the killer’s mind and what it was that caused him to go on the rampage. Playing the video showed that he was basically mentally ill. If NBC hadn’t aired it we’d still be speculating on the motive for the next couple of weeks. This puts closure to the speculation. It would be different if NBC displayed video of the actual killings. I guess I just don’t see this as being that big of a deal. I believe there will be copy cat incidents regardless of whether NBC showed the clips or not.
Bob230
We’d still be speculating? So the jury would still be out as to whether this guy, who by many accounts was a loner, severely disturbed, suicidal, and had violent fantasies, was mentally ill? Perhaps you’re talking about the speculation that this was some sort of terrorist act, but the timing of the video’s airing was just in poor taste either way.
Basically the guy got what he wanted – making him even more infamous. He wanted to be remembered for this horror. I don’t like it either. It jsut tempts more disturbed people into thinking about doing the same thing – just to be known. NBC didn’t need to promote his image.
I think they could have turned the images and clips over to investigators and left it at that. But death and terror draws big ratings… and TV is out to fatten their wallet.