You get one crazy person the spotlight like at Virgina Tech, and others come out of the woodwork to get their own piece of the action. I know that bad news gets the ratings, but if we didn't give them so much coverage would they do these sorts of things? Are we responsible for inducing these people activities because we are so engrossed with the negative side of the news? Just some things to think about during the next tragedy.
A letter mailed to The Columbus Dispatch is among those being reviewed as part of an FBI investigation into a series of threatening letters that complain ESPN and ABC crews have exploited cheerleaders, WNBA players and WTA Tour players, the newspaper reported Thursday.
The FBI offered a $5,000 reward Tuesday for help finding the mailer of dozens of the letters - some containing a potentially harmful insecticide - to national networks, their local affiliates, and people throughout the West and Midwest. Recipients also included people associated with the athletic department at Ohio State University, and university athletic departments in Michigan and Arizona.
The letter sent to The Dispatch, bearing a Seattle postmark, says a television producer "will cause 88 people to be assaulted and shot at. One for each time shown on TV, one for each second shown and 10 for each shot during a 30 second timeout."
The FBI is working to determine whether the letter mailed to the newspaper matches the other letters, The Dispatch reported.
"We're trying to seek the public's assistance and are hoping they recognize some of the verbiage contained in the letter," said Harry Trombitas of the FBI's Columbus office.
The writer or writers of the other letters complained that television crews have exploited cheerleaders and other female athletes through certain camera angles, even though those angles were rarely shown on the air.
The author of a letter sent in December 2006 mentions Ohio State cheerleaders in a complaint that networks unfairly favor more modestly dressed cheerleading squads.
"For the last 6 years, Ohio State cheerleaders have received more TV time than any other Division 1A cheer squad on ESPN, because they wear long sleeved red/white outfits. If they wore sleeveless outfits, they would not get ANY TV time. So, we are fed up with this constant exploitation," the author wrote.
Ohio State cheerleading coach Judy Bunting said she has been advised not to comment.
The initial batch of letters was postmarked in Portland, Ore., and delivered in September 2004. Subsequent batches of letters were delivered between November 2006 and February, mostly with postmarks from Seattle, but some also were sent from Chicago, the FBI said.
The FBI declined to identify the kind of insecticide contained in some of the letters but said there were no reports of injuries.
Ohio State police chief Paul Denton said cheerleaders, coaches and athletic department officials were alerted after letters arrived at the university more than a year ago. The university also forwarded information to the FBI, he said.
University officials did not issue a campus-wide alert.
"We didn't deem it a specific or credible threat," Denton said. "It sounds like it would be directed at folks who are in the media."
At least one of the letters sent to athletic staff members at Ohio State contained a substance that "was tested and found not to be lethal," spokesman Steve Snapp said. He didn't know whether the substance was an insecticide.
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