A Defense of the Media

Today, video came out from the multimedia manifesto that the Murder in Blacksburg sent to NBC in between the two shootings. A lot of the public is outraged with the news media's decision to actually air the footage from the package, saying that it is allowing the murderer to become the matryr that he sees himself as. I am not one of these people.

The question that everyone continually asks with regards to this massacre is why. This package is the answer to that. Although, for an English major, the manifestos and speeches are very poorly written with weak sentence structures, grammar & progressions of argument, it gives insight into his mind and why he might believe that he was justified in taking the lives of 32 people. No matter what time we see this footage, it will strike a cord in the hearts of the victims' families.

It could be argued that it is too soon, but that is the only thing that can be argued. This footage has to be aired; it has to be shown to create some form of solace and understanding within the American and international public with regards to this massacre. So, please, stop trying to make a martyr argument. That "martyr" must be heard for the world to ever find solace and move on from the tragedy in Blacksburg.