The tragic school shooting in Finland has, unsurprisingly, provided the opportunity for certain sections of the media to point the finger at certain sections of the entertainment industry.

Watching the news last night I was interested by the fact that, amongst the presumed killer's deranged online ramblings, he stated: "Don't blame the movies I see, the music I hear, the games I play or the books I read. No, they had nothing to with this." The Sun's main report omits this, of course.

The Times' paper edition reproduces this quote today, alongside a piece which imagines the killer immersing himself in "throbbing downloaded music and a locked room". A little further down the page the name of industrial rock band KMFDM is highlighted (except here they're "heavy metal"), after their music was heard soundtracking some of the footage he posted online.

KMFDM gained notoriety after their lyrics were posted online by one of the Columbine killers, despite the fact that they immediately and emphatically denounced the killings.Whether you're a fan of the band or not, one hopes their music isn't further stigmatised through association with this crime.

It looks like the media has a more exciting scapegoat anyway - "the YouTube website", as it's been referred to in numerous reports over the past day or so. Isn't it weird, as a regular user of YouTube, to hear it called anything other than just "YouTube"?

You can almost hear journalists cracking their knuckles at the opportunity to find more dodgy material on the site. The YouTube angle will die down eventually of course, as did the accusations levelled at Marilyn Manson following Columbine, and we'll just be left with the tragic consequences of the act themselves. It's just a shame we're probably going to have to endure all manner of music / website-blaming hysteria first.

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