Via TV Newser comes this story by Phil Mushnick of the New York Post:
Hyde was a bright young man from Albuquerque who began to suffer a steady mental deterioration until, one day, in 2005, at different locations, he shot and killed five people.
Beyond the murders, the NBC show stressed that Hyde was a time bomb who was released from police custody and hospital care despite frightening episodes and warnings from many, including his family, that eventually there would be hell to pay, that eventually he would kill.
Hyde’s story, it turned out, was roughly the same as Cho’s life story, except for the killing part. Cho hadn’t killed anyone, not yet.
The morning after NBC’s show aired, Cho, described by schoolmates as an all-night TV watcher, shot and killed two people.“
Mushnick places culpability on NBC News, based on absolutely nothing. There is absolutely no way Mushnick could know that Cho was watching Dateline that Sunday. In fact, all evidence points to the fact that Cho had been planning the shootings several days — at least — in advance. There are many criticisms that can be lodged at a low-brow television show like Dateline NBC, but accusing them of inciting mass murder is pathetic.
Important to note: Mushnick works for the New York Post, a publication that is owned by News Corporation. News Corp. also owns FOX News Channel, meaning that the cable news network and the New York Post are under the same umbrella. And as anyone who follows cable news knows, FNC has an ongoing, fairly one-sided (with the exception of MSNBC’s Keith Olbermann) feud with NBC News.
And of all the criticisms Fox News and News Corp. personalities have lodged at NBC — whether its Bill O’Reilly referring to the entire network as some liberal organization or Page Six documenting Olbermann’s love life — this may be the most irresponsible.
