The gatekeeper

There was much hoopla over the airing of the Virginia Tech gunman's media confessional (I don't favor the term 'manifesto'); and rightfully so ... I had a chance to read an article online about the content of the videos before I actually saw the video. I, like millions of others, had my first glimpse of the videos courtesy of CNN. After I'd been watching off and on for about 15 minutes, one of the guests came on and his first comments were that they should cease playing the videos! At that point, I was thinking the same thing. After seeing some of the videos, I concluded that what I had read had answered enough of my questions about the killer and his state of mind.

I think that the videos are now rarely being shown and that is a good thing. However, I really think that NBC should have handled the situation differently. Of course, it was a huge coup for them, but as the sole gatekeeper, they should have exercised more caution on this decision.

It is so difficult for me to even look at the names of the victims ... especially since I teach college. Knowing that people are in place where learning is paramount. Hearing about the individuals lives and accomplishments is just astounding to me.