The news gets worse and worse
By <a href="http://www.mpnnow.com/about/team.php?id=9">KEVIN FRISCH</a>
Messenger Post Columnist
Posted: Apr 23, 01:00 PM EDT
What a difference a weekend makes.
Last Friday, the big story was brand new man of leisure Don Imus, who was ousted from his nationally syndicated radio program after making a disparaging remark about a women's basketball team. Since the comment was racist in nature, there were calls for a new discussion on the topic of race; a new dialogue on the parallel universes that are black and white America.
By Sunday, this conversation was put on hold — along the East Coast, anyway — as attention turned to more immediate concerns. Namely, the weather. A full-fledged 'noreaster made an unwelcome April visit and, for some 36 hours, it snowed slush. Or slushed snow. Or rained snow and slush. Whatever, the result was inches and inches of precipitation leading to flooding, treacherous travel and widespread power outages.
By late Monday morning, even those with cold homes and flooded basements were suddenly counting their blessings as they heard the first news reports from Blacksburg, Va.
An unspeakably violent week in recent American history had another blood-soaked chapter. In the past 15 years, the week between April 15 and April 22 has seen the siege of the Branch Davidian Compound in Waco, Texas; the Oklahoma City bombing; the Columbine High School shootings and, now, the worst mass shooting in modern U.S. history: the massacre at Virginia Tech. Including the gunman, 33 souls were lost on the college's campus on April 16. Another 26 people were wounded.
As the initial shock and confusion gave way to anguish and a search for likely-nonexistent answers, a few reflexive voices were raised.
There was right-wing radio host Rush Limbaugh, who climbed onto his high horse to condemn the "drive-by media," whoever they are. (Apparently, Rush has a problem with news people showing up to cover what may well be the biggest story of the year.)
There was the almost immediate debate over firearm rights, a customary echo when gun-related violence explodes.
Have you ever head a loud crash in the next room, then run in to see Junior standing next to a broken lamp and the first words out of his mouth are "I didn't do it"? Then you've got some sense of the tone of a fax sent out the night of the slayings by Gun Owners of America.
"When will we learn that being defenseless is a bad defense?" asked Larry Pratt, the group's executive director. "All the school shootings that have ended abruptly in the last ten years were stopped because a law-abiding citizen — a potential victim — had a gun."
Actually, the Virginia Tech gunman took his own life, as did the two teens who wrought carnage at Columbine, but, oh well.
On the other side of the argument were people like Josh Sugarmann, executive director of the Washington-based Violence Policy Center.
"In the wake of these shootings, too many routinely search for any reason for the tragedy except for the most obvious — the easy access to increasingly lethal firearms that make mass killings possible," he told the Toronto Globe and Mail.
It wasn't hard to side with Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine.
"I think that people who want to take this within 24 hours of the event and make it their political hobby horse to ride ... I've got nothing but loathing for them," he said.
Kaine's point is well taken; his revulsion understandable. An informal waiting period of at least a week before latching an agenda — any agenda — onto sad and painful events would be a welcome change in this country.
The time will come for dissecting media coverage and debating the availability of firearms. In the meantime, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg and America as a whole have wounds to heal; tears to cry; losses to mourn.
Whoever thought we would so quickly be nostalgic for the days when the big issue was the Don Imus controversy?
<i>Messenger managing editor and aspiring president Kevin Frisch's column, Funny Thing..., appears each Sunday in the Daily Messenger. Contact him at (585) 394-0770, Ext. 257, or via e-mail at KFrisch@MPNewspapers.com.</i>
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Original Source: Rochester, NY - MPNnow
<a href="http://www.mpnnow.com/news/view_story.php?articleId=8158">http://www.mpnnow.com/news/view_story.php?articleId=8158</a>
Licensed under <a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.5/">Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.5</a>.
Kevin Frisch
2007-07-17
Brent Jesiek
Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.5
eng
seattle PI guest column on the tragedy of virginia tech
<p>Beauty and Depravity | eugene cho's blog [eugenecho.com]
Here's the guest column I had the privilege of writing for the Seattle Post Intelligencer [published for Tuesday, April 24, 2007]. I've also included some other reads I have personally found very moving and insightful. I was limited by time and a word count, but hoped that this <a target="_blank" href="http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/opinion/312786_techkorean24.html">'guest column'</a> would be a source of healing, deeper understanding, and blessing to many. I wish I did a better job, [and given them my own title], and spoken from a larger Asian perspective. One clarification I want to make - while I and other Koreans/Asians grieve and feel pain and 'shame' over Seung Hui Cho, <strong>we are not the victims in this tragedy.</strong> My hope was to convey that no matter who or what we are, we are all connected to one another - not just because of our ethnic identity but our larger <strong>human collective and narrative</strong>. Because of the invitation to address the larger Washington readership, I chose not to be preachy. Much of this editorial comes from some initial thoughts shared in a blog entry from last week entitled, <a target="_blank" href="http://eugenecho.wordpress.com/2007/04/18/making-sense-of-virginia-tech/">'Making Sense of the Senseless.'</a>
<strong>Worthwhile Relevant Reads:</strong> <a target="_blank" href="http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1110AP_Virginia_Tech_Family_Statement.html">Cho Family Statement</a> [Sun Kyung Cho], <a target="_blank" href="http://elderj.wordpress.com/2007/04/23/guilt-shame-and-corporate-identity/">Guilt, Shame,and Corporate Identity</a> [elderj], <a target="_blank" href="http://www.jameschoung.net/2007/04/18/to-blame-is-human/">To Blame is Human</a> [James Choung], <a target="_blank" href="http://www.philly.com/inquirer/opinion/20070420_Editorial___Letter_to_South_Korea.html">A Lesson in Your Apology</a> [Philadelphia Enquire Editorial], <a target="_blank" href="http://bolim.wordpress.com/2007/04/25/hello-world/">One of Our Own</a> [Bo Lim], <a target="_blank" href="http://www.vt.edu/tragedy/giovanni_transcript.php">Nikki Giovanni Convocation Address</a> [N. Giovanni], Making Sense of the Senseless <a target="_blank" href="http://eugenecho.wordpress.com/2007/04/18/making-sense-of-virginia-tech/#comment-1414">Comment</a> [rk], Va Tech Victims <a target="_blank" href="http://www.nytimes.com/ref/us/20070418_VICTIMS_GRAPHIC.html">Pics & Stories</a> [NY Times], and <a target="_blank" href="http://www.beliefnet.com/blogs/godspolitics/2007/04/diana-butler-bass-silence-of-murderers.html">Silence of a Murderer's Mother</a> [Diana Bass].
If you have a lot of time and are bored, here's the <a target="_blank" href="http://www.seattlequest.org/sermons/2007.04.22.m3u">mp3 of the sermon [57.12]</a> I shared last Sunday at <a target="_blank" href="http://seattlequest.org">Quest Church</a>. I preached from 2 Corinthians 5:17-21, Isaiah 1:17, and Matthew 5:9 entitled, <strong>'Love Wins.'</strong> Yes, it is very long but I also have to stay true to my preaching nickname: 'Fiddy.'
Here's the direct link to the <a target="_blank" href="http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/opinion/312786_techkorean24.html">Seattle PI column</a>:</p>
<blockquote>Like everyone else — here (Seattle), there (Virginia), West (United States), East (Korea) and everywhere (the larger world), I have been shocked and horrified over the Virginia Tech shooting. I have been trying to make sense of something that is senseless.
Personally, the emotions have been even more convoluted because of my bicultural identity. I was born in Korea, immigrated to the United States at the age of 6 and thus am Korean American. I am also a U.S. citizen; I am a Korean American male immigrant and even share the same surname as the gunman, Seung-Hui Cho.
Once I discovered that the gunman was Korean American, I had some initial fears of racial backlash. As a proud citizen of this country, I do not believe there will be any overt backlash. It would be nonsensical for people to associate the heinous crime to Koreans or Korean Americans simply because of Seung-Hui Cho's ethnicity.
In that same vein, it would have been preposterous and unjust for us to place blame on African Americans for the actions of John Allen Muhammad and Lee Boyd Malvo in the Beltway Sniper attacks of 2002 or to ask white Americans to share blame with Timothy McVeigh in the Oklahoma City bombings of 1995.
But in the days after the identity of the gunman was revealed, many in the media and larger culture may have been perplexed by the responses of Koreans and Korean Americans. Many Koreans expressed embarrassment, shame and even guilt. State Sen. Paul Shinn fought back his tears as he apologized to fellow lawmakers. Even despite being reassured by others that an apology was not necessary, he continued.
Although I personally don't feel the need to directly apologize for the actions of Seung-Hui Cho, I understand why Shinn and others feel the need to do so. Although not apologetic, I share in deep pain, embarrassment and shame. I share in the deep pain because when I see images of this young man, I don't just see a "crazy Asian killer," I also see someone whose life story sounds very similar to mine. Such words as lonely, isolated and quiet were often used to describe my younger life as I struggled to fit in as an immigrant.
I share in embarrassment and shame because I see Seung-Hui Cho as a part of my larger community. As Koreans or Korean Americans, we share not only similar life stories but also a communal bond. Contrary to perhaps the more "individualistic" worldview of Westerners, Koreans have a certain communal identity.
One can contend that to be Korean is to be communal. No one is an island to themselves. For that reason, Koreans tend to rejoice and mourn on the successes and failures of fellow Koreans. We rejoice with individuals such as James Sun ("The Apprentice"), Michelle Wie (LPGA golfer), Yul Kwon ("Survivor: Cook's Island), Hines Ward (NFL player) and Yunjin Kim (ABC's "Lost").
And because we are a communal culture — not only as Koreans but also within our Korean American immigrant experience — we mourn and feel deep pain and shame over Seung-Hui Cho.
Last week, someone asked me "Why am I mourning? Is it because of the one or the 32″? For me, and many Korean Americans, the answer is both. We are mourning because of the 33. We are mourning because great pain and harm have been inflicted upon the lives of 32 individuals and their loved ones — each one with beautiful lives, stories, dreams and futures.
We are mourning because the one, Seung-Hui Cho — a part of us — chose to commit a horrible act of violence and devastation. Last week, my wife and I have broken down in tears in random situations. We cry and pray for the 32, their families, the students and community at Blacksburg, but also cry for Seung-Hui Cho and his family. We cry because in him, we see a younger brother. And so, we grieve for the 33.
Although I know that it is not necessary to apologize, I do want to share these words. On behalf of Koreans and Korean Americans, I want to extend our deepest condolences and love to all the families of those affected by the tragedy at Virginia Tech. It is my sincere hope and prayer — that no matter who or what we are — we grow to understand we are all connected to one another.
The Rev. Eugene Cho is lead pastor at Quest Church, a multiethnic church in Seattle <a target="_blank" href="http://seattlequest.org">(seattlequest.org);(</a><a target="_blank" href="http://eugenecho.wordpress.com/">eugenecho.wordpress.com</a>).</blockquote>
<p>May each of us take to heart the ministry of reconciliation, the pursuit of justice for the oppressed and 'other' and be peacemakers.</p>
<blockquote>Now we look inside, and what we see is that anyone united with the Messiah gets a fresh start, is created new. The old life is gone; a new life burgeons! Look at it! All this comes from the God who settled the relationship between us and him, and then called us to settle our relationships with each other. God put the world square with himself through the Messiah, giving the world a fresh start by offering forgiveness of sins. God has given us the task of telling everyone what he is doing. We're Christ's representatives. God uses us to persuade men and women to drop their differences and enter into God's work of making things right between them. We're speaking for Christ himself now: Become friends with God; he's already a friend with you. <strong>2 Corinthians 5:17-20</strong></blockquote>
<p> This entry was posted on Tuesday, April 24th, 2007
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Archived with permission of the author.
Original Source: Beauty and Depravity | eugene cho's blog [eugenecho.com]
<a href="http://eugenecho.wordpress.com/2007/04/24/seattle-pi-column/">http://eugenecho.wordpress.com/2007/04/24/seattle-pi-column/</a>
Eugene Cho
2007-06-16
Brent Jesiek
Eugene Cho (eugene@seattlequest.org)
eng
Virginia Tech shootings create media ethics debate
Jeff Vrabel / GateHouse Media
Thu Apr 19, 2007, 05:01 PM CDT
BLACKSBURG, VA - Regular readers of this column - and hello to all three of you - know that, when appropriate, partially appropriate, tangentially connected or carries the very slight possibility of being funny to someone somewhere, I have no problem resorting to remarks of questionable taste. Sometimes, if I can and my editors agree, I can slip a colorful adjective in there or two. When it comes to matters of obscenity and the maintenance of high culture, a conservative prude I am not.
But something about being unable to avoid pictures of Cho Seung-Hui pointing a gun at me Thursday was more nauseatingly loathsome than I might have even expected.
People with lengthier titles and livelier paychecks than mine will by now have spent hours and days debating the judiciousness of using the pictures of a killer doing what he did when he executed more than 30 people on Monday, pointing the gun at me, at you, at himself, at whatever purported demons he'd invented. He did so on purpose, doing it with the intent to enrage after his death. With astonishing clarity, Cho's package to NBC News proved, over all else, that this was not a random bout of insanity, a snap. This was as premeditated a rampage as one could enact; one wouldn't be surprised if investigators soon discover a map and a set of blueprints.
I'm not here to debate the news value, and were I sitting in the newsroom at NBC News when that package came in, I - nor any of you - have any idea how I would have reacted. But it feels an awful, awful lot like serving a black-hearted killer a drink at the bar and asking if he'd like to keep the bottle for free.
This is what he wanted. This is what he's getting. There wasn't much chance that anything else would happen, really.
Hopefully, at least some percentage of the country's 6 million pundits-posing-as-journalists will at least begin addressing the question of how much of the decision to run these photos was fueled by news judgment and how much was fueled by the media's increasingly desperate desire to keep up. By Tuesday, CNN had a bumper - not a segment, not a commercial, but one of those four-second clips that leads viewers into and out of ads - that flashed the phrase "CAMPUS SHOOTING" no fewer than eight times. Eight times! The font changed, got bigger, jumped around the screen, and finally settled front and center in bold type, where even if you were just flipping by or passing it at the airport, you could stop and wonder what's next. (Hilariously, the CNN outlet I was watching at the time punctuated its Cho coverage with a 90-second ad for a gun range.)
At this point, calls for judiciousness will fall on deaf ears; as the moment for pure sympathy and horror seems to have already passed - well, it is Friday - now we can get on with the ransacking of grief, the creation of logos and theme music and the mortifying - and, for the most part, unavoidable - capitulation to the wishes of a killer.
<i>Jeff Vrabel can be reached at www.jeffvrabel.com</i>
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Original Source: <a href="http://www.chicagosuburbannews.com/stcharles/opinions/x1721527709">http://www.chicagosuburbannews.com/stcharles/opinions/x1721527709</a>
Licensed under <a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.5/">http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.5/</a>Creative Commons
Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.5
</a>.
Jeff Vrabel
2007-05-31
Brent Jesiek
Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.5
eng