Oprah Cancels Columbine Anniversary Show

CHICAGO — Oprah Winfrey decided Monday to pull an already-taped episode of her talk show that was to mark the 10th anniversary of the Columbine High School massacre, saying it "focused too much on the killers."

The episode, "10 Years Later: The Truth about Columbine," was to air on the Monday anniversary of the massacre in Littleton, Colo., that killed 12 students and a teacher.

"I decided to pull the Columbine show today. After reviewing it, I thought it focused too much on the killers. Today, hold a thought for the Columbine community. This is a hard day for them," Winfrey wrote on Oprah.com and her Facebook page. A similar message appeared on her Twitter feed.

A Harpo Productions Inc. spokeswoman confirmed the posts.

Columbine Task Force lead investigator Kate Battan, FBI special agent Dwayne Fuselier, Dave Cullen _ author of the book "Columbine" _ and Columbine High School principal Frank DeAngelis had taped the episode of "The Oprah Winfrey Show."

Winfrey said a program about a mother released from prison would run in place of the Columbine piece.

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On the Net:

http://www.oprah.com/

Comments

[PaleHorse08]

First of all, Oprah does not do anything unless it benefits Oprah... She must have felt that her name was not in the news enough this month. There was no need to issue a press release on this issue since these shows are taped a month or 2 in advance. Oprah issues a statement about how saintly she is, and you guys fall all over it... Pathetic!!!

[WowJones]

B.S. Oprah has been known to take this kind of altruistic stand before.

[toocoldout]

TAKE A FLYING LEAP!!!!!!! Oprah's does more good in day than you, your entire family, and all your ancestors COMBINED have done in your ENTIRE LIVES. She was born & raised with none of your opportunities, & yet she's given over $300 million of her OWN HARD EARNED money to charity (most of it quitely), more than any other black or performer in history according to Business Week. And even if she does want her name in the news, she DESERVES to have her name in the news, because she does a trillion times more good THAN YOU EVER WILL!!!!!!­!!!!!!!!!!­!!!!!!!!!!­!!!!!!!!!!­!!

[whiteoakindian]

You're absolutely right about that!

[Dave Burton]

Nice to see somebody somewhere out there in the mass media machine takes precision care and thought into what they broadcast into the big, bad, world. Well done Oprah.

web.me.com­/sixfeetab­ove

[slaxx]

i agree with this decision. i forgot it was the anniversary until i caught a segment on the histiry channel last night that was all about the ki l lers and their writings. i couldn't stomache it for more than 15 seconds.

we don't need to make these kids the heroes for all the angst-ridden teens out there.

[BobinPgh]

She Did Not cancel this show, at least not in our area. Last night it was on about that very subject, which is when WTAE runs the show that was played the previous afternoon.

Meanwhile, I must ask: Why does that school district continue to use the building? I know its expensive but there must be some way that the students could be moved to other school buildings. Having to go to school there and try to learn something - that has to be kind of creepy.

[epithet]

One needs to tell Dylan and Eric's story as part of the tragedy, too, if one is to attempt to prevent it from happening again.

Heavy is the head of She Who Could Save Some of The World.

[Vinca]

I think too much coverage of the Columbine tradgedy influences kids to want to copy, some kids , not all, some tahat are disturbed already, think they will get lots of attention, it's best not to have too much coverage

[me4you]

There are two episodes that come to mind that I feel were two of Oprahs best. One was when she highlighted women around the world and showed their struggles and how rough they had it. The other show was one that featured some teachers ( I think ) who had done a sort of outreach into peerpressure and social issues in the schools, such as how the students treated each other. I loved that episode and really wish all schools would put some focus on teaching kids whom are not always taught by their parents how to have respect for other people and their feelings.
I'm glad Oprah trusted herself about not airing the Columbine episode even though it was already taped.

[BluGrrl]

God. It's been ten years already. I was in middle school when this shooting and many others took place. I'd be lying if I said I didn't fear going to school for a while. Columbine wasn't the only school shooting of the 90's, just the biggest.

Such a tragic event, I remember how long the police stayed outside while those kids were being slaughtered inside. The police inaction was a big deal at the time. They could have saved lives but instead chose to preserve their own. There should be zero hesitation when it comes to saving the lives of young people.

Ok, that's enough from me. This is a very emotional subject for me, for many people. I don't want to travel down this road again. What we need to do is figure out how to try to prevent these rampages from occurring in the first place.

[Lellie]

Thank you, Oprah...as we all should know, what we think about and put our attention on, expands and becomes an even greater reality.

Her suggestion that we focus on praying (however we pray) for the community to help it heal itself, was a much more positive exercise.

Presenting a segment on the killers at another time is a far more respectful option and if done from start to finish by Oprah's team would be excellent.

[CommonSenseMom]

Agree 100%. Oprah understands that the last thing we need is more hollywood spotlight on the Columbine killers. We honor and grieve the dead....and we move away from the evil of the killers.

[countfloyd]

I caught Bill Cullen on Maddow and was not impressed. He is out hawking a book trying to make a profit out of the killings.

[stagebandman]

But he had a very limited time to talk, and was, basically, just answering Rachel's questions. I heard him on Ron Reagan's radio show, and it was very enlightening, informative and poignant. If possible, check out the radioblog on Air America. It's well worth it.

[JustMyWords]

Pretty harsh. All authors hope to sell their books, after all - pretty difficult to make a living as an author if you don't. But putting years into research, and then publishing a book that goes largely against the grain of the accepted Columbine mythology, isn't just trying to make a profit.

You haven't read the book, know nothing about it, only that the author was given the opportunity to promote it and took the opportunity. Maybe you could wait until you read it and see if the book contributes anything useful to what we know before you decide to condemn it.

[drummer4]

Oprah is an intelligent, kind and caring American.

[westreal]

Oprah looks pretty with straight hair.

[Faxus]

THANK YOU OPRAH! I have had enough of this.

[vippy]

Somehow the media did not pick up on the legal drugs these students were taking - surely the
influence of drugs had something to do with this horrific crime.

[Nebris]

Maybe she should do a show on how the evangelical ghouls exploited the long disproven "She said 'Yes'" story of Cassie Bernal.

[Marnieblue]

I don't think there is anything wrong at all with focusing on the killers. They usually don't focus on killer like McVeigh and the like because there could be sympathizers. There is nothing "Hollywood" about the truth. No on focuses on how poorly they were treated in their school for not wearing Abercrombie and Fitch. Not every kid cares about that or can afford that.

[cgpunker]

I agree. We should focus on the killers. I read Cullen's book and it's something I think everyone should read. The story is a lot more chilling than most people think. These two killers were not outcasts. They weren't bullied -they WERE the bullies. They weren't treated poorly in their school. They didn't hate jocks or Christians. All of that was media hype. They were smart kids, had friends and jobs and girlfriends. But one of them was a flat out psychopath who had been brought to the attention of police multiple times, who had videos and websites and diaries outlining his plans to kill the world. He had no after HS plans because he knew he wouldn't be here. The other was a depressed kid who looked up to the psycho, but maybe even tried to stop him a few times.

The Columbine story isn't simple at all.

[gnorrfa]

not make an attempt to learn more about things that really happened?

[johnbohl]

I think the reason the media is (rightfully) apprehensive about concentrating on the killers is because it was what the killers wanted all along. Video diaries were found of the two gunman pre-emptively bragging about how directors were going to be fighting over the movie rights to their story. Nobody wants to fulfill their wishes. Furthermore, such attention paid to the killers could incite another student in a similar situation to seek glory for themselves in the same way. Remember that guy at Virginia Tech who left those videos screaming "THIS IS YOUR FAULT!" before he went on his shooting rampage? Bringing attention to things like that is a roundabout way of condoning their actions. If anything, people like this should be shamed and ridiculed. Good for Oprah in making that decision despite what could have been a highly-rated show.

[BowlyJones]

There is nothing sympathetic about killing innocent people because some other people were jerks to you. I got bullied in high school too. I graduated and never so those idiots again. I went on to live my life. I won. Those columbine killers let the bullies win. Yes, parents and teachers should be more aware of bullying, but kids also need to learn to handle or ignore bullies sensibly. Don't let bullies define you.

[Brillig]

Those "killers" were wimps of the worst kind. But what needs to be done is to have everyone stop focusing on what people have. Teaching children to respect, not patronize, all persons. Teaching them that MONEY and gewgaws is not what makes the person.

That is why I applaud the wearing of UNIFORMS.

For one thing, it engenders Pride in School
For another, it shows you as a part of a Community-even an outcast can identify
For yet another, a uniform does not differentiate between classes or money
And a uniform is a great way to ensure discipline of the wearers, particularly when out of school as it is easily recognizable