Classy move by the Tribune
April 19, 2007 at 12:27 pm by Wayne GarciaI got a phone call from a former journalism colleage and a comment from a co-worker here on Lemon Street both about how many of the daily newspapers splashed the Va Tech shooter’s photo above the fold on 1A this morning (most notably in our area, the St. Petersburg Times and the New York Times). They expressed disgust that the papers would give this vermin the very fame that he obviously desired. (St. Pete downplayed the image on its website, so go figure.)
The Tampa Tribune took a different tack: it played the shooter video grab small and ran mug shots of many of his victims in a graphic that dominated 1A. You can get the pdf of the cover here today only.
Look, you can’t ignore the haunting video and photos that this guy left behind. But it does seem calculated only to sell papers by making the image of him with guns dominate the front page. I’m pretty sure most folks realize this guy owned guns.
UPDATE: My friends weren’t the only ones upset; some victims’ family members have canceled appearances on NBC news shows.
