Editor's note:Tell us what you think - what is an appropriate role for the media when covering horrific stories such as the massacre at Virginia Tech? You can leave a comment below, or click here to write a longer piece.

As the eighth anniversary of the catastrophic events at Columbine High School approaches, we come together to grieve, remember and honor the horrific loss of life. Shockingly, the Virginia Tech community begins their own journey of suffering and healing with the massacre there earlier this week.

As an agent of the media and devoted member of our Columbine community, I have struggled to put to paper the essence of emotions that encompass such horror.

Watching the events of April 17 unfold before me on television brought me instantly back to 4/20/99, a place I did not want to go. This time, though, I watched the suffering of a community to which I have no connection and was able to process the sequence of events with a vague sense of distance.

I was most shocked and moved in the near identical aspects between the two days as the storydeveloped.

This time, my husband, Phil, noticed how biased the television and print media coverages were toward re-victimizing Virginia Tech's community, and therefore re-victimizing the viewing/reading audience. The front page photo of our Rocky Mountain News on April 18, 2007 depicted someone's son that had been shot and was being carried from the scene. No name was given to the victim. Readers were left with no knowledge of his status.

My friend in Boulder told me that The Boulder Daily Camera opted for a less intense (no visible signs of injury - thevictim appears conscious and alert) photo of a girl being carried from the scene. I did not see the paper, but my friend tells me the photo was not the main photo on the front page, but rather situated on the lower right hand corner.

Regarding NBC's coverage of the events the evening of April 17, Phil again was shocked at how much of the footage was devoted to airing the network's affiliation. By the time that production aired, facts were still being gathered, however, the producers had time to edit a good amount of previously shot live footage. With every cut to that previously recorded video, the voiceover began with, "This is NBC News . . . " "NBC live on the scene . . ." "NBC affiliate . . . "My husband felt 1/3 of the coverage was the retelling of facts, 1/3 was devoted to naming the network, and 1/3 involved speculation. He felt the broadcast lacked substance and generated pain and potentially dangerous speculation.

Sitting next to him on the couch, I did not notice this in the television coverage. At that point, I know my heart was with our Columbine families and my mind was back in 1999. I was wrestling with demons long blocked out in my mind; scenes from April 20, 1999 that I struggle to bury again. I realized then that the shocking nature of the Virginia Tech coverage was identical to that of the shootings at Columbine.

Which leads me to my point of debate: Is this intense media coverage appropriate? Is it necessary? Is our pain extended, drawn out or enhanced by such coverage - or is the coverage simply a reflection of the pain we feel? If the value of the front-page photo is to entice readers, yet the photo is of a nature most parents would censor from their children, is the photo still appropriate? Is there a way to cover such an event while respecting the privacy of those so deeply victimized?

If you feel the media goes overboard, tell us why. If you feel the coverage is appropriate, tell us why.

My own answer: I don't know. I have my feet on both sides of the fence with this issue, and all I can surmise at present is that this is the most uncomfortable and finely drawn line upon which we have ever walked. We take pride in our democratic society and its foundation in the Bill of Rights, and this debate over Freedom of Speech is long running; likely never to reach a consensus. The media is a business - an industry to make money. That free economy is alsopart of the framework to our nation's freedom, as is the right to privacy.

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