The Real Price of Oppression: Fox News Coverage of the Virginia Tech Shooter

Document Type

Book Chapter

Publication Date

7-3-2013

School

Communication

Abstract

Violence in schools is nothing new in this country. The simple mention of the word Columbine brings back emotion for many Americans no matter how near or far they live from Littleton, Colorado. More recently, America was also chilled by the events that transpired on April 15, 2007, when 32 people were murdered on the campus of Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Virginia Tech). At the time, it was (and still remains) the largest mass shooting in U.S. history. But perhaps what was most surprising to audiences was who was responsible for the murders. He did not fit the stereotype of the typical murderer involved in many of the high profile mass shootings covered in U.S. news — young, white, male who is socially awkward and often angry or frustrated at the time. The shooter was indeed a troubled young man, named Cho Seung-Hui. He was born in South Korea and moved to the U.S. with his family in 1992 at the age of eight years old.

Publication Title

Race and News: Critical Perspectives

First Page

161

Last Page

176

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