Networks Limit Use Of Gunman's Video

By Howard Kurtz
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, April 20, 2007

Faced with an outpouring of anger over the airing of the Virginia Tech gunman's hate-filled video, network executives said yesterday that they are sharply restricting their use of the chilling images.

Moments after NBC broadcast footage and still photos that Cho Seung Hui had sent the network in the middle of his murderous rampage, the pictures filled the television airwaves Wednesday night and yesterday morning as other networks lifted the material. The bombardment sparked an outcry from friends and relatives of the 32 victims, online commentators and radio hosts from both ends of the political spectrum.

After the videos got heavy play on the morning shows -- with the NBC logo already affixed both to footage and to photos -- network officials took steps to pull back. MSNBC, for example, limited the video's use to 10 percent of air time, or up to six minutes per hour.

"I'm not going to say we're oblivious to the comments coming out of the Virginia Tech community," NBC News President Steve Capus said in an interview. "We understand, we appreciate and we respect their concerns. I'm steadfast in my belief that we did the right thing and we handled it appropriately."

Paul Friedman, a CBS News vice president, said the video is "obviously offensive and disturbing, not only to the families and relatives but to lots and lots of viewers who are emotionally caught up with this. Why upset them all over again? The aim here is to make sure we never use this video as wallpaper."

CNN President Jon Klein said his network has "severely dialed back" on the airing of the video, noting: "You could venture into the land of gratuitously overusing it, and we are being rigorous about that. It comes down to a balance between providing a platform to a madman and helping explain a riddle that has confounded many Americans."

The networks defended the decision to broadcast the footage in the first 18 hours following NBC's initial airing, when they considered it breaking news, but said the situation has changed.

"We're very mindful that it's exceedingly disturbing, and after the initial news cycle the value of the video has diminished," said ABC News spokesman Jeffrey Schneider. "We're not learning anything more about this madman. . . . It plays into exactly what the killer had hoped for."

In a memo to his staff, Fox News Senior Vice President John Moody said use of the video would be restricted because the network's viewers have already seen it. "We see no reason to continue assaulting the public with these disturbing and demented images," Moody wrote.

Locally, WJLA-TV said it would no longer air the video because "the images are very disturbing to many of our viewers."

The NBC, CBS and ABC evening newscasts all began last night with stories about public anger toward their organizations, and talk radio crackled with criticism all day. Conservative radio host Laura Ingraham accused the networks of "exploitation of grief" in pursuit of ratings. "What was NBC thinking?" asked liberal radio host Ed Schultz, adding that the network had been "thoughtless," "heartless" and "selfish."

NBC should not have released the video, said radio host and author William Bennett, who likened it to videos of beheadings released by terrorists. "I don't think it does any good, and it certainly has the likelihood of doing harm," he said. "We don't need it thrust in our face."

Some relatives of the Virginia Tech victims had been scheduled for interviews yesterday on the "Today" show, but Meredith Vieira told viewers that "they canceled their appearances because they were very upset with NBC for airing the images." Her co-host, Matt Lauer, said there were "some big differences of opinion right within this news division as to whether we should be airing this stuff at all."

In Virginia, State Police Col. Steven Flaherty told reporters that NBC's decision was "rather disappointing," although no law enforcement official had asked the network to refrain from airing the footage.

Bryan Clark, the twin brother of one of the victims, Ryan Clark, said he watched the video in an attempt to understand Cho's motivation. "I guess it is like looking at a train wreck," he said. "You don't want to watch, but you can't turn away."

The criticism was reminiscent of the first days after the 9/11 attacks, when the networks kept replaying footage of a plane hitting the World Trade Center before deciding to use it more sparingly.

The majority of comments on a blog posting by NBC anchor Brian Williams were negative. "I am sick that you would have obliged the killer by using his material," one person said. "It almost drove me to tears in fear," another said. "I am totally appalled that NBC News has chosen to broadcast the videos of a psychopath according to his wishes and thereby possibly encourage other disturbed individuals to attempt to gain infamy through similar or copycat acts," said a third.

NBC's Capus said he decided against releasing all of Cho's "rantings" and aired only "a small fraction of the overall material. Once we've put that out, we've done what we intended to do. We weren't going to keep ratcheting it up and ratcheting it up."

As for the anger directed at NBC, Capus said: "Every one of our competitors, every newspaper made the same journalistic decision. The news value of this material cannot be disputed."

Most newspapers, including The Washington Post, ran front-page photos from the material mailed to NBC, particularly a menacing shot of the killer with arms outstretched, each hand holding one of the guns he used in the shooting spree. The pictures varied in size from The Post's stamp-size image to huge displays in the New York tabloids. USA Today ran a montage of five images.

Howard Kurtz hosts CNN's weekly media program, "Reliable Sources." Staff writers Timothy Dwyer and Sandhya Somashekhar contributed to this report.