I know a lot of people complained about the excessive coverage of the Virginia Tech shootings by the media. I have to agree that a lot of outlets, like CNN and Fox News, made the story much more sensationalized than it was.

Some people also complained about NBC showing the videos that the shooter sent them. But let's just try to picture the situation if the 24/7 news stations didn't cover the event even 50% as much as they did.

People would be screaming, "This was a national tragedy, why is it being ignored?!"

Sure, there was oversaturation, and more stories should have been about the victims than the shooter, Cho Seung-Hui, but the bottom line in any business is $$$.

NBC must have been so excited that they were chosen to receive all of Cho's videos and photographs. It's an editors dream, the holy grail! NBC's decision to broadcast his video was simple to make, in my opinion. Of course they should have shown it, if they didn't then people would have complained that they were withholding information, that they were censoring the story.

The timing of the video was a little off, though. They shouldn't have shown it so quickly because that's what Cho wanted. Many relatives and friends of those killed were outraged at NBC for showing it so quickly after the shootings, and I agree, NBC should have waited.

People need to realize that ratings are God in this business, and people love to watch tragedies on TV. Ask some people, ask them if they were glued to the TV right after the shootings. Ask them how much news TV they have watched since. $$$ is king.