Fox News accidentally maybe airs man killing himself

[kefkaownsall]

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I8qrtF9iARA" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I8qrtF9iARA</a>
I actually think it's a bad idea to show it cause it's so voyeristic.  Also apparently Shep Smith is officially the only guy at Fox with a brain.

[DrFishcake]

This has been inevitable for quite some time. Fox can't kick their addiction to these high-speed chases (because ratings) and sooner or later they were going to show one that ended like this. And I totally agree, Shep Smith is the one guy at Fox who has a little decency and a little common sense. Had another anchor been on, I'm betting they don't cut away.

(Edited to add: Ana Kasparian. <3 )

[kefkaownsall]

This begs teh question how common is it for things to end in the criminal committing suicide?

[m52nickerson]

As fast as it happened I will giver Fox a pass on that and say they simple were not ready for it and could not pull it fast enough.

[Witchyjoshy]

As fast as it happened I will giver Fox a pass on that and say they simple were not ready for it and could not pull it fast enough.

I'm gonna agree with nick here.  Of all the bad things Fox News does, I don't think this was intentionally malicious, more so a case of not being prepared to cut the footage.

[Kit Walker]

As fast as it happened I will giver Fox a pass on that and say they simple were not ready for it and could not pull it fast enough.

I'm gonna agree with nick here.  Of all the bad things Fox News does, I don't think this was intentionally malicious, more so a case of not being prepared to cut the footage.

I work part time at a TV station. There is probably a lot of difference between a national station's control board and a local station's control board (mostly complexity, I'd imagine), but the amount of time it takes to cut from one element to another on a live broadcast tends to be the length of time it takes you to press a button. If the person in the director's chair wasn't ready to cut from a violent car chase back to the studio (or to ANYTHING) on split second notice, that's on them. That is their job.

[Witchyjoshy]

Yeah, they messed up, I'm not saying otherwise.  However, people sometimes make mistakes while doing their job.  They get complacent, they don't recognize a cue soon enough, it happens with more regularity than people care to admit.

It doesn't have to be intentionally malicious for it to happen.

[Kit Walker]

Yeah, they messed up, I'm not saying otherwise.  However, people sometimes make mistakes while doing their job.  They get complacent, they don't recognize a cue soon enough, it happens with more regularity than people care to admit.

It doesn't have to be intentionally malicious for it to happen.

No, but like I said...generally speaking as easy as pushing the button for another video feed. If your anchor has time to notice what is happening and request a cut, the director should be able to as well. If it wasn't on purpose, it was because someone was asleep at the switch. Or trying to stay with the action until the last possible second with a complete disregard for ethics.

No matter why it happened, it represents a hideous breach of broadcast ethics and the person responsible should be (if a mistake) heavily reprimanded and suspended or (if intentional) fired.

[TheReasonator]

Suicide is part of reality and the job of the news is to report reality, not aid viewers in burying their heads in the sand.

Not that Faux News does a good job of that in the first place, but this is one thing I agree with them on.

[The Right Honourable Mlle Antéchrist]

Suicide is part of reality and the job of the news is to report reality, not aid viewers in burying their heads in the sand.

Not that Faux News does a good job of that in the first place, but this is one thing I agree with them on.

A lot of terrible things are part of reality, but that doesn't mean that we shouldn't give people some warning before showing explicit depictions of violence and gore, or practice some discretion between necessary depictions (such as the atrocities committed during war, or images of genocide and persecution) and frivolous, voyeuristic crap.

[syaoranvee]

The video has been everywhere on the net.  Personally it's probably the quickest and least violent one I've seen.  That turks video up top probably has it pull away less then a second before he pulls the trigger:

(click to show/hide)

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XkGphC5hxuM" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XkGphC5hxuM</a>

"Are You Not Entertained?!" goes well here.  We watch these car chases on the offchance something insane happens, it's purely a form of entertainment for those watching and when something DOES happen, we suddenly find it be barbaric.  You can't have it both ways.

[The Right Honourable Mlle Antéchrist]

^^ People are hypocritical. No news there.

[TheReasonator]

Suicide is part of reality and the job of the news is to report reality, not aid viewers in burying their heads in the sand.

Not that Faux News does a good job of that in the first place, but this is one thing I agree with them on.

A lot of terrible things are part of reality, but that doesn't mean that we shouldn't give people some warning before showing explicit depictions of violence and gore, or practice some discretion between necessary depictions (such as the atrocities committed during war, or images of genocide and persecution) and frivolous, voyeuristic crap.

And then everyone can just pretend everything is peachy.

[Distind]

And then everyone can just pretend everything is peachy.

You're really defending broadcasting someone killing himself on live television?

As a fuckup, maybe passable. But writing it off that since it's something that happens we shouldn't give a shit when someone puts it on television? But hey, it's not like any family he may have had gets to watch his death get get more and more airtime, or find it almost anywhere they bother to look on the internet. So why worry.

[TheReasonator]

And then everyone can just pretend everything is peachy.

You're really defending broadcasting someone killing himself on live television?

As a fuckup, maybe passable. But writing it off that since it's something that happens we shouldn't give a shit when someone puts it on television? But hey, it's not like any family he may have had gets to watch his death get get more and more airtime, or find it almost anywhere they bother to look on the internet. So why worry.

There are cases where doing so could spur people to important social action. Maybe not this one in particular. However, what if the news showed people who kill themselves or starve to death or what have you in third world conditions or in war? Maybe people would be more moved to help change things. Maybe if the news wasn't afraid to show "horrifying" things and people weren't afraid to view them and to feel the horror people would be more active in trying to make the world a better place, instead of people burying their heads in the sand and pretending everything is OK.