NBC how we are

First off, I know it's illegal to post this cartoon without permission. I hope if I provide a link to Mike Luckovich's Web site at the Atlanta-Journal Constitution and mention that he is my favorite editorial cartoonist in the world, that I will get off the hook. As the media feast began last week in Blacksburg, Va. I immediately thought of our troops in Iraq. For thirty-three soldiers to die in one day over there gets reported, but not like these homegrown tragedies involving loose cannons and their random deadly attacks on the innocent and unassuming.

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The Today show, desperate for a ratings boost, broadcast their show from Blacksburg last week. Matt Lauer said on the Laura Ingraham radio show, in so many words, that the students at Virginia Tech didn't realize the gravity of the situation until he showed up.

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Wow, what a bunch of dumb asses must go to one of Virginia's most prestigious schools. Matt Lauer was probably excited that the waning "Today" show finally had a week of good ratings after the nose dive the show has taken since the departure of Katie Couric. Hey "Today" show producers, cue back to the segments on how to make your own potpourri, we wouldn't want to confuse you with actual news source.

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I thought it was especially sad that the parents of last week's shooting victims were the ones to call a moratorium on the shameless teasing and rebroadcasting of the killer's final video and photos. They played right into what Cho probably wanted -- a Tarrantino-style, memorialized, bloody grand exit. NBC, being the network Cho mailed his "death kit" to, had quite the field day, making themselves copies of every item sent before turning the package over to authorities. I could almost see the high-fives the producers were slapping upon being the major network chosen by the disturbed young man.

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What happened at Virginia Tech is tragic and upsetting. The televised coverage by the major television networks poured unneccesary salt into a major wound at the expense of hundreds of friends and family members of the victims -- all in the name of ratings. Let us not forget that the same casuality numbers involving bright young Americans happens every week in Baghdad.

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TMZ called NBC on the carpet quickly and succinctly last week in this excellent post. Who would have thought one of the most reputable entertainment and gossip blogs would have to slap a major television network on the wrist for its extreme display of bad taste.