The Citizen

by Lymari Morales, MPP2
Guest Contributor

The overwhelming sadness I feel for the people of Virginia Tech just keeps multiplying. It comes at me from all directions: as a student, as a Virginian, and as a journalist. Sitting in class, my heart breaks over and over again for the 32 innocent people murdered doing exactly what we do every day.  They died because they showed up to teach and to learn.  And they died as defenseless as we are, sitting in rooms with doors open to the world.

I grew up in Northern Virginia, a neighbor to many of the towns now grieving for so many promising young futures needlessly lost. My high school in Reston, Virginia sends several dozen students to Virginia Tech each year.  Many of my hometown friends are Virginia Tech Hokies, and I have experienced first-hand the intensity of Hokie Pride.

I recall spending a sensational fall Saturday in Blacksburg, Virginia, alongside friends draped in maroon and orange, watching then-Virginia Tech star quarterback Michael Vick throw perfect passes against the stunning backdrop of the Blue Ridge Mountains.  That’s the Virginia Tech the Hokies would have loved for you to know.  The Virginia Tech where headlines are made on the playing field.  The Virginia Tech where people are smart but unpretentious.  The Virginia Tech where it’s cool to live, work, study and play in a little-known place near the West Virginia border.

And while the people of Virginia Tech can now also be proud of the collective strength they’ve shown in the face of unimaginable horror, they would much rather not have to be forever associated with the actions of Seung-Hui Cho.

While some argue the shooter’s actions might somehow have been predicted, the depressing reality is they could not have been prevented.  Not at Virginia Tech or on any other university campus that is as open and welcoming as it should be.

This brings me to the uneasiness I feel watching the media cover this tragedy.  As a broadcast journalist who used to write TelePrompTer copy and on-screen banners, I shudder to see televisions wallpapered with the words “massacre,” “bloodbath,” “slain,” and “gunman.”  These words dramatize events already more visceral and compelling than any words can convey.   These words don’t help families cope and they don’t help a nation understand.   The facts – that a student bought two guns and premeditatedly shot to death as many people as he could – are horrific enough.

I also respectfully disagree with the decision made by my former colleagues at NBC News to air and share audio and video of Seung-Hui Cho’s “multimedia manifesto.”  When terrorists distribute video messages, networks generally tell the story with a limited number of still images, but no audio or video, rightfully denying killers the airtime and publicity they seek.  The same standard should have been applied in this case.  Seung-Hui Cho would have achieved the notoriety he wanted without the privilege of speaking from the grave, a privilege none of his victims will ever have.

In the fog of breaking news, journalists often do not react as regular people do.  Adrenaline takes the place of  
emotion, because there is not enough time for both working and weeping.   But journalists must come back to reality to recognize how their decisions can affect the very events they report, adding to the anguish of those already suffering and providing incentives to those who might be inspired to inflict more pain.

The overriding lesson is best summed up by Columbine survivor Craig Scott, brother of victim Rachel Scott, who said in an interview that “what you give attention to, you give power to.”  

As a Virginian, I ask you to give attention to all that Virginia Tech was before these awful events.  The Virginia Tech community exemplified many wonderful things before April 16, 2007, and it would be all the more devastated to see those things stricken from the record.

As a journalist, I ask you to look past the sensationalized coverage to the humanity that lies beneath.  Read about the victims both killed and injured, their families and the  
survivors whose lives have been changed forever.  Turn off the images of Seung-Hui Cho when you’ve seen enough to know the facts, rather than rewarding the networks with the ratings to  
justify airing more than they should.

And as a student, and your fellow classmate, I encourage you to give power to everything extraordinary that comes with being part of a university community.  With the end of the year, and graduation, upon us, we should look up from our laptops and work to reinforce the ties that bind us; the same ties now helping Virginia Tech to overcome such overwhelming grief.

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