The media is to blame.

Even though it might have been sent to its offices, what possessed NBC to publish the words of the man behind the Virginia Tech massacre? I’ve lost countless hours of sleep over how the story has been reported by the media since the information was released to the public.

Immediately, the news coverage has shifted to who is to blame for what this maniac did. To be honest, I don’t really want to hear about it because HE wants me to hear about it. That is giving him exactly what he was after. He wants his grievances with society to overshadow the memories of his victims for the next few weeks. He wants to deprive anyone looking to mourn his or her lost ones the opportunity to do so without the media spotlight, and without having to hear about who is to blame, why he pulled the trigger and who else is responsible for him pulling the trigger. He wants us to remember his face and words, and I just don’t think it’s appropriate to grant him this wish.

I am concerned that someone will attempt to exploit this tragedy for political gains. In the media’s persistent search for additional sources of blame, there is no doubt many will argue that the tragedy could have been prevented with tougher gun laws. The anti-gun lobby will almost certainly come out and blame gun companies and Charlton Heston’s National Rifle Association for not doing something to prevent their guns from getting into the wrong hands. The truth is, there are so many firearms in this country that it’s naive to think anyone who wants a gun can’t easily find one on the black market.

I believe the victims’ families should have at least been consulted before these matters were released into the public. For the foreseeable future, they, along with the rest of the Virginia Tech student body, will be confronted with the words and images of their loved ones’ murderer. One of the victim’s fathers described being confronted with these images as ‘second assault.’

Since we’re going to remember this day forever, we should do so by memorializing the innocent students and professors who lost their lives. The man behind the massacre, whose name I even refuse to include in this column, does not deserve any of the public attention he’s received. He deserves no CNN.com or New York Times headlines. He does not deserve to become a page on Wikipedia. In fact, what he deserves is simply to be forgotten.

‘ Jonathan Schwartz is a junior economics major.