Good for NBC.
The world needs to hear these things.
The world is not all fun and roses.
Maybe we can stop the next one before it happens with the information this gave us.
People--get your head out of the sand.

If Lou could go on to explain the importance of what was learned by what this killer had to say?

IMO it was nothing more than a reward for killing enough people that it gets a person full coverage on all the major TV stations encourging the copy cat who also wants their 7-days of fame for some twisted perceptions.

Its no different than paying a randsom for a hostage situation and then annoncing the payout to the world.

I think it was wrong and hurtful.

This man had an untreated mental illness that was recognized long before the tragedy, and was left unchecked. His rantings and ramblings mean nothing, they are merely a symptom of his illness, nothing more. There is no deep meaning in what he says, it is only an indicator of the illness he is suffering from.

Had the system been more proactive in the first place, and this man been treated by a physician, under court order, this tragedy would likely not have taken place, and the young man likely would have been a contributing, law abiding member of our society.

The key was to have him under proper medical care. That's all it would have taken.

"On the other side, the ratings war, and by airing the video NBC won that battle, with 10.3 million viewers. That put them at the top of the ratings heap."

That is the key statement .... that is what is the bottom line and what it is all about ... again, it is the consumer who is to blame. NBC knows that most people turn their heads to look at accidents and other's misfortune and some even stop to get a closer look and get some pics.

There are few who will stop with the intention to help. Those who stop for that reason are likely the ones who feel that the clips should not have been shown.

From my point of view, from the little I have followed of this tragedy, it is the support and safety system which failed. This fellow was known and was diagnosed. The system was dysfunctional in that it could not keep him from the potential which was recognized prior to the incident at Virginia Tech.

Oprah, although probably not always in depth presented a good show yesterday with the CEO of NBC and Brian Williams and parents of the victims and parents of the Columbine victims. It presented all sides of the issue.
At the very least the viewing has opened up discussion.
I know there will be those who will see this person as somone to emulate. I also know that there are others who will learn that our mental health system is stigmatized.
I don't believe in censorship.
In my opinion, I think there is too much censorship in Canada. Witness the silence on Paul Bernardo and the Pig Farmer. If we don't know what is going on, how can we ever learn and change the aberrations in our society?

Foo I have to respectfully disagree with you. I as you also support free speech. That is not what this is IMO. This is a situation where a person kills people and then is given free airtime on national media as a reward for his crime to incite copy cat crimes. If the killer paid for his airtime then it would change the argument. Maybe NBC would like to donate the equivalent cost of that airtime to a charity that deals with the effects of the issue, but I doubt they will do that.

Why not give the air time to the victims, or mental health people, or some other positive force that could use the free media airtime?

I think we can all agree that reasoned arguments and researched facts that give background to a crime are much better ways of informing the public rather than a hate speech reward for a killer on national television. If the killer has a representative that is willing to buy airtime to reason the argument of the killer, then that would be their right. Otherwise that is what we have courts for.