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Up until Monday, when a gunman shot dead at least 30 of Virginia
Tech students and professors, Bryce's Journal on the blogosphere was
all pictures of friends and fun.
The latest chilling entry, dated Tuesday 17 April, timed at 08:35
am, says: "The list has begun. I read it and reread it, double
checking each name on facebook to see if I could recognize any of
them.
"I probably have seen them in a class, in a dining hall,
crossing campus -- I saw the German teacher and immediately and
desperately looked up a friend who is taking German class as my eyes
began to water in anticipation. She was alright."
"Rest in peace," reads LJ blog before going on to list the
names of the dead.
As soon as news of the massacre broke, students turned to the web to
communicate and journalists flocked to their weblogs in search of
eyewitness accounts and cellphone and video reports.
The medium too enabled The New York Times to point readers to its
The Lede blog for quick updates while CNN ran amateur photos and
videos from I-Reports, its recently-launched citizen journalism
initiative.
Fox News ran user-generated photos and video reports while the local
The Roanoke Times ran constantly updated online news items from
hospitals, police, university officials and the students themselves.
"I never imagined that this is the way Virginia Tech would
likely go down in history", said a former student and current
correspondent on MSNBC under the title "Not At My Almer
Mater."
The university itself, under the title "Tragedy at Virginia
Tech" updated its page every few minutes, announcing
Wednesday's candlenight vigil, cancelling classes for the week and
at 9:15 am Tuesday identifying the South Korean gunman responsible
for the Norris Hall fatalities.
In film shot with a cellphone by Jamal Albarghouti, a student near
the hall at the time of the massacre, the sound of around 20
gunshots can be clearly heard in the 70 seconds of blurred images
and sound.
Surfing across the blogosphere, BickLickU shows footage of students
deserting both the campus and the town itself, while collegiatetimes.com
offers students countrywide information on their friends and a guest
book to the dead titled "Be Still".
LiveJournal user Paul recounts how his friend was hit by a bullet to
the hand, but on Tuesday asks reporters not to use his latest
accounts.
"There are way too many emotions flying around at this
point."
A day earlier, underlining the tension as the drama unfoldded, he
wrote: "Because of what's transpiring, my phone cannot connect
to the network, its constantly busy."
In a likewise eery reminder of the events that took place, Bryce's
Journal reported shortly before noon on Monday: "Safe and
rather scared.
"My friends and I got out of class at about 9:50. Walked across
campus. The wind blew with flurries about. Sirens were in the
distance and I saw an undercover cop car go about 80 down one of the
drives. That was odd. In front one of the dorms, West AJ, were
several police cars, lights off and parked. We started talking about
how there are always situations that cops rush across campus for and
we never hear about.
"Then several people walked by and told us there was a shooting
and campus was closed. No one is allowed to cross the drillfield.
Hmm. We went ahead to eat some food as cops were stationed in front,
checking ID for everyone.
"I walked with my friend to his dorm to get his stuff as an
omniscient announcement echoed across campus:'This is an emergency.
This is an emergency. Take shelter in doors immediately. Stay away
from windows and remain inside.'"
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