We originally aired the video and stills and posted them on KREM.com for several reasons. The primary one was that the video and stills were breaking news and they helped point to a motive behind the worst mass killing in U.S. history. The rambling motives in the manifesto helped answer the question "why?" that everyone was asking. When people understand the reasons that drove Seung-Hui Cho to do this, that can help the healing process for many as they move on to recovering from the event and thinking about the victims. Another reason to air the material was that the backlash against the tapes and stills was a story in itself and the material was needed to illustrate the story.
After two days of airing the video and stills online and on-air, we have decided to greatly limit their use. Now that we have learned the motives, we don't have to subject our viewers and online visitors to Cho's hate-filled rants. We have also gathered the reaction to the manifesto from the Blacksburg community and the local community. The backlash story is over. Also, the hate-filled nature of the messages contained in the video and stills really don't advance this story any more.
We don't intend to use the material after today unless it's relevant to something we're reporting. A news manager will need to give permission for that material to hit online and on-air.
I'm interested in your comments on this blog about this decision.