After being assigned to blog about the Virginia Tech Massacre, a mixture of emotions arose. First, there was an eerie feeling that surfaced since my previous blog post mentioned the Virgina Tech Shootings. Second, I had a sudden rush of attachment to the topic. In 2007 when the attacks occurred, my older sister was acting in a one-act play at the time called “Bang, Bang You’re Dead” which was based on the Columbine Massacre. Two years later, I had ended up doing the same play for my Theatre Arts class, which helped me better understand what goes on inside a school shooter’s mind.
After being informed with elaborate detail about school shootings through my involvement with Bang, Bang You’re Dead, it was interesting to hear about the Virginia Tech Massacre from a journalistic perspective.
One important theme that arose from the Virginia Tech Massacre is citizen journalism. A graduate student at Virginia Tech, Jamal Abarghouti recorded videos outside of Norris Hall where 30 were killed and 25 were wounded. Using the video camera on his cellphone, Abarghouti captured footage that displayed police offers’ reactions to the sound of gunshots coming from inside of the building. CNN’s I-report, “an initiative that allows people from around the globe to contribute pictures and video of breaking news stories from their own towns and neighborhood”, featured Abarghouti’s video and had 1.8 million hits within the span of one day. This video was also used by other news networks and frequently shown due to its audio recording of the gunfire.
Another significant aspect of the Virginia Tech Massacre was the use of social networking. News networks like CBS reached out to the public by tweeting whether any of their followers had any information concerning the shooting. Though, there was also a downfall in the use of social networking to get information. After listening to the NPR interview with the editor-in-chief of the Collegiate Times, Virginia Tech’s student newspaper, I learned about how a student reporter was finding more information on the event via Facebook. The editor in chief encouraged the reported to be critical of the information found on Facebook as it may not always be reliable.
Something I found particularly interesting in researching the Virginia Tech Massacre is that its impact still remains significant today. I literally mean today. An article from the Associated Press was released from Richmond on March 9th outlining the civil suit surrounding the Virginia Tech Massacre. Parents of the deceased sued the university for not issuing a school-wide announcement earlier that the shootings had occurred. The first shooting occurred at 7:15 and there was no campus-wide alert that happened until 9:26 am. Virginia Tech President Charles Steger testified, “I tried my best.” The US education department fined Virginia Tech $55,000 in damages which the school is appealing.
Personally I feel that issuing a campus-wide alert was necessary but it is a sticky situation to be in when a shooting has occurred. Obviously the last thing you want is the swarm of reporters storming your campus and fuelling the fire. But the well being of the students should be the utmost priority. Though it was not only the President of the school who was put in a difficult position.
Journalistically speaking, reporters were put in a tough spot as they were putting stories out with faces of victims that their families may not have wanted to be put on the news. I feel that although the media tend to sensationalize school shooting stories, these events do need to be broadcasted for public information.
Frances Young