Listeners, not Leeches: What Virginia Tech Survivors Needed from Journalists

Abstract

Journalists covering the 2007 shootings at Virginia Tech aggravated the trauma felt by victims' families and survivors, raising ethical questions about the role of media at major news events in an Internet-enabled era of continuous coverage. Some journalists breached professional norms by knocking on doors at 6 a.m., claiming a hidden camera was a breast pump and bullying reluctant interviewees. Even conscientious journalists, however, exacerbated the ordeal through their overabundance. By forcing survivors to endure repetitious interviews and making mourners feel they were being stalked, journalists demonstrated they must embrace press pools to minimize harm in the future.

Notes

1. Encounters between news media and survivors were exacerbated by the university's decision to locate the media equipment on a parking lot across from the Inn at Virginia Tech, where arriving families were housed. Family members had to “traverse a labyrinth of cameras and microphones to reach the front desk at the inn” (Virginia Tech Review Panel, 2007, p. 139).