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Mediating Violence, Selling Fear
Michael O’Brien

The presentation of the Virginia Tech killings by the media, especially by cable news outlets, was typical of the progressive trend to display images of violence as entertainment, manufacturing the story to sell instead of inform. The trend of these news outlets, especially that of CNN, MSNBC, and FOX networks, to sensationalize news stories when the subject matter deals with death, shameful acts, or lewdness has created a new fantastical world of journalism the viewing public demands. These observations are not new wave by any means, as the move to promote news through appealing visual images began with the creation of CNN in 1980 by media mogul, Ted Turner. There is little argument against the idea that news on these outlets has become misleading and fanciful through careful manipulation, including music, flashy graphics, and an element of performance. Instead of objective news reports, the public receives stories. Stories that define heroes and villains alter your emotions to receive the information in a specific manner, consisting of a few key phrases to summarize usually complex situations.

Seung-Hui Cho, the mysterious character who lurked in dorms, stalked women and never spoke has remained a terrifying enigma to the public, untouchable by modern psychology and the lone gunman in the Virginia Tech, what has been coined by CNN, Massacre.

Reflecting back on the news coverage, I remember images of Cho pointing a gun to the camera, dressed in black and wearing a tan vest that could only be utilized to hold ammunition. MSNBC, the recipient of the photos and videos sent by Cho did not need to dress this character to appeal to the public’s notion of a serial killer, as he wore the clothes of a renegade hunter and spoke with the clarity of a child. I remember the CNN video of the academic buildings and the sounds of gunfire echoing in the quad and seeing a caption reading “I Report” in the corner of the frame, indicating that the video had been made by a brave amateur. Was this brave amateur compelled to send the video to CNN for the satisfaction of having his video played on television, or was he genuinely attempting to inform the public of the shootings? Finally, I remember John Stewart, of the Daily Show showing a video compilation of guest speakers on several news outlets complimenting the coverage of events, and which reporter addressed the audience with the most believable sincerity.

The memories of this coverage dredge feelings of fear, disgust, and deceit. Looking back on these reports, I find that the only effect the videos and images of Cho and the CNN “I Report” was to induce fear into the public, allowing them distance from the event and receive the most substantial emotion we can feel, fear. Since these events, I have not heard another report concerning the background of Cho, or what specific instances might have led to the inhumane acts leading to the deaths of Virgina Tech’s students and teachers. As a viewing public, we are left to create our own assumptions concerning the event and carry the unresolved fear of those haunting videos and images. The viewing public sees the triumph of Virginia Tech’s students overcoming these deaths through tears and vigils, demonstrating the heroic strength of these students and their capacity to move on. The public fears and heals with Virginia, but is refused another constructive idea about what other schools are doing to prevent such actions, or what we can do to reach out to those who may pursue such devastating acts.

The viewing public is invited into this inclusive circle, holding hands with the grieving and trying to suppress the memories of the Nation’s deadliest, and inexplicable shooting. The outlets finish the story with these images, refraining from making constructive conclusions or follow-ups on the Cho’s videos, or how to recognize behavior in our peers that may be indicative of destructive acts. I feel as though the outlets that broadcasted these images have the responsibility to follow the story, instead of erasing the graphics and recycling the flashy imagery for the next story.

The “drug of superiority, a phrase coined by Gloria Steinem, describes the addiction to supremacy and dominance, including the resulting violence that occurs when these expectations are impossible to meet (p. 401). The case of Cho is unique, as his nationality and circumstance do not fit the criteria of traditional murderers according to Steinem, yet his motivation to gain superiority over the other “spoiled” students is consistent. The news outlets shied away from comparing these killings to notorious serial killers, or making direct parallels to the horrific killings at Columbine several years ago. From my memory, they did not speculate on his motivation for killing, aside from the isolation he created for himself during his past college years. Cho’s situation was so unique, and dissimilar from those mass murderers the United States has seen in recent times, that outlets were able to achieve a packaging that carried one emotion, fear. The reluctance by his family to provide interviews to the media, and the brief footage of an empty room once supposedly once occupied by Cho, granted the media to propagate the idea that Cho was a complete enigma, unknown to even his family.

Fear has become the packaging for many news stories, and even shows that were classically respected as fine journalism, such as “Dateline.” Without fail, on any Saturday night, the programming on MSNBC is Dateline’s Investigative report “To Catch a Predator,” which features sting operations and then interrogations of male pedophiles. Nancy Grace, a CNN talk show host always has fear on her mind, not afraid to accuse and make judgments about those awaiting trial. Fear was used in the case of Virginia Tech, as Cho’s his illusiveness to friends and family perpetuated not an image, but a feeling. News outlets are selling stories, not news.

References:

Steinem, Gloria. (2005). Supremacy Crimes. In “Conversation on School Violence.” Donna LeCourt, et al Ed. The Text-Wrestling Book. Dubuque: Kendall Hunt.