Introduction Virginia tech shooting was an incident that occurred in the year 2007 in which a number of students were shot dead within the premises of the institution. This paper seeks to establish the fact that “the media coverage of the event was considerably commendable since they dissented to the scene immediately and exposed to the world the incident. The criticism by the media was also instrumental in addressing future disasters”. The paper will look into the events of the shooting, its impacts and the role that the media played in covering the story. Virginia Tech Shooting: overview The Virginia shooting was realized in the year 2007 in the state of Virginia in the United States. It took place in Virginia College with a gun man attacking students at two different locations within the college premise claiming more that thirty lives on April sixteenth, 2007. As described by the local authorities at the time, this was considered to be the worst gunfire attack that was ever realized in the American history. The gunman is reported to have first attacked two of his victims in one of the institution’s dormitories before later launching a mass attack on a number of students in one of the classrooms. The students who were caught unaware of any chances of the attacks were helpless and left their lives at the mercies of the attacker. While some of the victims risked and jumped out of their classroom in the second attack, the others were arraigned and shot together in the classroom. The first attack incident having been realized slightly after seven in the morning was followed by the murder of thirty one more victims before the gunman took his own life (Hauser and O’Connor 1). Historical significance of the shooting incident The shootings in the Virginia College were significantly felt beyond the boundaries of the school. The first category of people who were affected by the incident was the families of the students who lost their lives as they were forced to face a life without them. Beyond the loss of individual family members was the horror that struck the nation since it was not a common phenomenon. Existence of violence in American cities and streets or even in colleges among students had not realized such brutality of arsenal attack on students. Though almost similar attacks had been realized in the nation, the magnitude had been the largest. The first attack in a school compound having been realized in the year 1966 in Texas for instance claimed sixteen lives after a person climbed a structure before opening fire on people bellow him. In the year 1999, some two students in high school attacked and killed their eleven colleagues and one of their teachers before shooting themselves. The extent to which the particular Virginia shooting was felt by the nation as a whole was at the same time reflected by the step that the then president, Bush, took to express his concern as well as his condolences to the survivors and relatives of victims of the attacks. The fact that the incident attracted communication from the white house was an indication of its significance as a national issue. It was thus marked as a significant occurrence in the American history (Hauser and O’Connor 1). The Virginia Tech shooting is also signific