Today, as he is most days, Matt Lauer was NBC's whipping boy.
This morning's Today show was supposed to welcome the families of Virginia Tech victims, but after last night's "multimedia manifesto" (see how with it 30 Rock is?!) – where Brian Williams and his MSNBC cohorts aired photos, video, and documents mailed to them by VT gunman Cho Seung-Hui – the families pulled out, and left the Today show sans guests.
Cue Lauer's reading of a prepared statement defending the network's decision to air the material. But, as one NBC insider tells us, it's likely Lauer didn't want to go along for the ride.
"That's not something he would've chose to do," says a former Lauer colleague. "Especially at the risk of losing such a big story [having the victims on the Today show]."
Editorial Director
Helping You, To Help Us
The Survivors
Through our work with tens of thousands of survivors of homicide victims we have found it important not to dilute the reality of the aftermath of murder or add to their anguish and heartache. The victims of the April 16th tragedy were not “LOST” they were “MURDERED”; there is no such thing as “CLOSURE” (the only thing that closes is the lid on the coffin); “LIFE” as they knew it has forever changed; those touched by this heinous crime will always be “HEALING” but will never be cured, and finally, they were not “IN THE WRONG PLACE, AT THE WRONG TIME”- They were exactly where they were supposed to be!! Let us not blame the victims for their own victimization.
Seeing the images of the murderer with guns drawn, talking, and the media reading his last words only adds to the survivor’s trauma. We have the audacity to refer to those who were killed as the “VICTIMS” but when it comes to the “KILLER” we refer to him by his name as opposed to “THE MURDERER”. How enraged the families will become as they come to the realization that Cho, the MURDERER, has become notorious and their loved ones have become invisible. Society’s curiosity about the “MURDERER” will keep him in the limelight for years to come. How many of us will even remember one of those victim’s name?
After notification/confirmation of a loved one’s death, everything is measured by “before and after.” Seeing the film clip in which you hear the gun shots becomes extremely painful for survivors as they begin the images of the “before and after” of those shots – “Is that the shot that killed my child/loved one, or is it the next shot, is my child/loved one still alive but crouched in the corner, terrified knowing they are going to die?”
Founded in 1978, the National Organization of Parents Of Murdered Children, Inc., (POMC) is the only national self-help organization dedicated solely to the aftermath and prevention of murder. For more information on the needs of survivors, or to locate a POMC Chapter in your area, go to the POMC Web Site at: http://www.pomc.org, or call toll-free: (888) 818-7662.
This letter is very true! I think somethings are way to glorified, maybe not intentionally, but they are and then thats where the copy cat starts!