The Va. Tech tragedy has highlighted a number of ethical questions and issues, including a debate over where the disturbing (to put it lightly) video of the Va. Tech shooter should air. Or should it have aired anywhere?

The Poynter Institute today an interesting audio discussion and related statements from NBC about the television company's decision to air portions of the video tape and photos Va. Tech shooter Cho Seung-Hui sent to NBC News between the shootings Monday.

In the podcast, Poynter's Kelly McBride said, "If I were running a newsroom, I'd be looking at options that would allow my journalists to publish conservatively in mediums where you don't really have a choice of what you see, and publish more liberally on the Internet, where you can gie people a choice of how much they see and what they see."

Separately, \Washington Post radio reported some of their listeners said there was no good reason for NBC and other news stations to show clips and photos from the NBC News package on television. Rather, listeners suggested, television news stations should have posted the videos and photos online. This would have placced the decision to watch the disturbing footage in the viewers' control.

National Public Radio's All Things Considered yesterday had an interesting interview with NBC News about their decision -- a decision they didn't take lightly at all, they said. (Read the article and listen to the interview for more.)

Also, see the St. Petersburg Times' story "Phone Camera Reports Blur Lines" for more analysis of ethics issues surrouding news coverage of the Va. Tech shootings.