Inside Google asks whether Google should allow media companies and others to buy Google Ads for searches relating to the Mass Murder in Virginia. Are the news orgs that desperate for the eyeballs of onliners?
Dave Winer has two posts on the mass murder (One titled Vlogging Comes to Mass Murder” and the other entitled “ChoTV Day2”) and thinks that the videos sent to NBC should be uploaded and left for everyone to see and do with them what they will. Some have argued about copycats but I’d more worry that this is just another form of trolling. The guy wanted attention and spreading the videos will do that for him. Attention whore has already got enough publicity. Doc Searls also says release the videos. Would he link to blog posts that had mockup pics of Kathy Sierra being murdered? Would he tell Kathy to upload the abusive pics and messages if they were posted to her?
Jeff Jarvis also supports their release and has some very good reasoning but I don’t think releasing the videos will encourage people to report potential rampage murderers, I think that lesson will be learned without them. We’ve seen the degrees of stupidity and insanity some people go to for attention, will this not just reinforce that fact that trolls with guns will be rewarded with the attention they want?
Meanwhile, isn’t someone in RTE being awfully clever with their “Sororicide jury breaks for weekend“. I’m not sure are murder cases the best place to show off your word of the day skills, though they seem to be fantastic sources for pullitzers and for best-selling non-fiction books.