A Star Is Born

C Goodman
YouTube.com has its first bonified mass murderer superstar. A multi-media package arrived on the doorstep of NBC News today. Inside was several photographs and a video of Cho Seung-Hui, the South Korean immigrant who went on that horrific shooting rampage at Virginia Tech Monday morning. He apparently found time between the killings to drop the package in the mail -- then he got back to the bloodbath.News outlets were all too eager to get their hands on what's being called Cho's "multimedia manifesto." Images of this nutcase have been popping up on television and on the Internet all afternoon. The media seems enamored with this guy, talking about his "articulate" manner of speaking on the videotape and his ability to plan out the bloody rampage with such precision.

At one point on the videotape, Cho is said to mention the names of the killers in the Columbine tragedy -- a tragedy that happened eight years ago this week. In the years since Columbine, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold have become synonymous with evil. Anytime there's a shooting on a school campus, their names are immediately evoked. So it shouldn't come as a surprise that the two bastards from Columbine have become heroes in this underground community of psychos. The mere mention of their names on Cho's videotape indicates some form of idol worship -- Harris and Klebold were his role models.

And now it's all happening again. The next generation of would-be campus killers have a new idol. In this day of viral video, Cho's on-camera manifesto will forever be available on YouTube and other video sharing websites to provide inspiration to these sicko cowards.
NBC News claims it was their "journalistic responsibility" to share Cho's rants with the American public. They say it's important to provide insight into the mind of a killer. According to them, it's evidence of why he "snapped" and killed 32 people before turning the gun on himself.

Congratulations NBC(and other media organizations who aired portions of the video.) You gave this piece of shit exactly what he wanted -- martyrdom. Cho obviously wasn't stupid. He had made it through almost four years of college and was very aware of the world around him. He knew that by making and sending off the videotape, his name, face and voice would forever be linked to death. He would achieve the recognition he sought in life from the grave using his weapon of choice -- the media. It was a part of his master plan and, once again, the media fell for it.

When will we realize that the worst thing we can do after these tragedies is to transform the perpetrators into cult heroes? At first, they start off as "unidentified gunmen." By the day after, we know their names, their possible "motives," their favorite color, whether they watched "Grey's Anatomy," and what size underwear they wore. They're instant celebrities, achieving the fame they couldn't fathom in real life. Ultimately, they have won.

Wouldn't it be better if we never knew who these bastards like Harris, Klebold and Cho were? If they simply remained "murderers" or "unidentified gunmen?" They can't be held accountable for their crimes in death, so what's the point in knowing who these scumbags were? I believe there should be an across-the-board policy at media organizations to not publish or air any specific information about these people. Simply identify them as a "23-year-old man" or "the unnamed killer." The media shouldn't be giving them a platform to spew their hate or a spotlight to become martyrs.

So what's happened in the hours since NBC received Cho's "multimedia manifesto?" Cho's face is everywhere -- he'll probably even make the covers of Newsweek and Time, maybe even People. Meanwhile, the misery he caused to countless families and friends of the victims at Virginia Tech is pushed to the backburner. The victims have been victimized again. Cho is now the story. And once again, the bastards have won.