WDBJ Killings

The question that arises from the WDBJ murders is a difficult one. Out of respect to the victims and their families, I absolutely think the video from Flanagan's perspective should be taken down. There is nothing to be gained from watching Parker's and Ward's deaths; in fact, I believe watching the shooter's video is only feeding his perverse desire to share his crime with the world. But if that video were to be removed from the public eye, how would that affect technology later on? Mirkinson brings up a valid point in his article, "to withhold relevant information because it is difficult to handle is to tell a kind of lie about the world". If the media were to permanently remove the Flanagan video from the internet, it would be out of good intentions towards the Ward and Parker families, and it would be a service to the rest of the public as well. There are people that could be permanently traumatized by watching that video, and there are people that might have been reminded of a past trauma by watching, especially if they weren't given a choice. However, if the Flanagan video is removed from public access, couldn't the media do the same with videos documenting police brutality? There have been videos posted of Sandra Bland before she died in jail, the harassment of black teenagers swimming in Texas, and other incidents of police brutality all over tumblr, Twitter, and Facebook. Without those videos as proof, it would be so much easier for the public to deny that America has a very real, very alarming police brutality problem. After all, pictures can be faked, and what they show you isn't always what really happened. Without the videos, all we would have are testimonies that could be easily ignored or refuted because who would admit to violently discriminating against American citizens? In short, the WDBJ killings leave the media in a difficult position. Of course, they can stop posting the video on their news feeds (I don't see why circulating the video every hour is even necessary), but taking it down leaves room for other videos in the future to be taken down. And these videos might not be senseless violence like the Flanagan video, something no one needs to see, but more proof that America has a very real problem and we need to start addressing it. Not just online and in social debates, but in public policies and state laws.