🚀 go-pugleaf

A friend told me the following story, and another confirmed it, but I
would like to know if anybody else has heard it, and their opinions:

Several years ago in Japan a man was convicted of murdering several young
girls.  The public was outraged, and the media fed on the frenzy by
exploring the mans life and highlighting him on television talkshows,
magazines, and newspapers.  One fact that was explored was that he was
basically a loner, and stayed at home often playing with his camara and
video equipment.  A profile was made of his personality in an attempt to
explain why he was a serial killer.  The media even invented a name for
his type of personality: otaku.  Eventually a profile of the 'otaku'
personality was made, and one of the (many) indications of an otaku-type
person was similar to the computer 'nerd' or 'geek' in the US.  In the
past few years, the otaku personality has been used to portray evil, odd,
or dangerous characters in doramas, movies, and books.

My question is this:  has anyone else heard of this story, and if so, do
you think that the media's use of the 'otaku' personality in a negative
sense has delayed the acceptance and popularity of hakincho@aol.com