In a surprising development, Virginia Tech gunman Cho Seung-Hui mailed NBC News a large package with photos, 27 Quicktime video files and a 1800-word manifesto. MSNBC.com is posting some of the videos and photos. NBC News President Steve Capus said the network received the package Tuesday but didn’t open it until today. And it appears that Cho may have sent it after the first shooting.

The cover on MSNBC.com as of now — the most compelling cover I’ve ever seen on the site. (Thanks, Corey for the tip! I’m blogging from the airport.)

Update: NBC is sharing the video and photos with other news organizations, but with the “NBC News” logo burned in. As of this writing, CBSNews.com, ABCNews.com and CNN.com are all showing the photo — with the NBC News logo — prominently in the top story position. More coverage on TVNewser.
Adds Max in comments: “I’d be curious to see a discussion of what people thought about NBC airing this. To me, giving these rantings air time lends an air of legitimacy to them, something we don’t want to be doing. I also suspect that it may encourage other deranged people who would want their manifestos to reach a global audience.”


