Sue Hartigan <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes:
It just seemed unreal to me. Sue
TV Coverage of Suicide Criticized
> LOS ANGELES (AP) -- The camera didn't blink as Daniel
> V. Jones stopped on the freeway overpass, unfurled a
> banner, waved a gun, set fire to himself and then put a
> bullet in his head.
>
> Viewers, on the other hand, were horrified by the live
> images and furious at television stations that failed
> to cut away as Jones killed himself Thursday.
>
> ``It's part of the unfortunate danger of live
> television,'' KCBS news director Larry Peret said.
> ``When you have a guy with a shotgun in the back of his
> pickup and the freeway closed, that's a news story.''
>
> Cameras were trained on Jones, 40, for nearly an hour
> as he sat in the truck sipping from a can and petting a
> dog on the seat next to him. He got out of the truck at
> least twice to unfurl the banner, which read: ``HMO's
> are in it for the money. Live free, love safe or die.''
>
> Rush hour traffic was backed up for miles on several of
> the area's busiest freeways.
>
> The man leaped from his truck when it burst into
> flames, leaving the dog behind. He pulled off his
> burning clothes, went to the edge of the overpass as if
> to jump, then backed off, picked up a shotgun and shot
> himself.
>
> Some TV stations airing the scene live were unable to
> edit the graphic action, though KCBS cut to a
> wide-angle shot as Jones appeared about to jump.
>
> ``We did not anticipate this man's actions in time to
> cut away, and we deeply regret that any of our viewers
> saw this tragedy on our air,'' KNBC said in a
> statement. The KNBC feed was shown nationally by the
> MSNBC cable news channel.
>
> KTLA and KTTV had interrupted children's programming to
> cover the incident.
>
> KTLA asked viewers for ``their understanding'' for the
> upsetting and distressing images that can be broadcast
> in live news coverage. The station said it wouldn't
> replay the incident.
>
> An unidentified receptionist at KCAL-TV quoted in
> today's Los Angeles Times said the station received at
> least 120 calls during the incident, most asking the
> station to cut away.
>
> ``We didn't like them seeing what they saw any more
> than they did,'' a KTTV spokeswoman said.
>
> KABC stuck with its afternoon broadcast of Oprah
> Winfrey's talk show, cutting away to the unfolding
> tragedy for brief updates.
>
> ``We knew it was dicey because of the nature of the
> story,'' KABC news director Cheryl Fair said.
>
> She and her staff debated shifting to live coverage,
> but before they decided, Jones was dead. The station
> aired edited shots of the suicide scene immediately
> afterward.
>
> At a Burbank Airport terminal, there were shrieks and
> gasps of horror in a crowd that had gathered around a
> television set. Several mothers covered their
> children's eyes.
>
> ``I wouldn't think this is the proudest day even for
> those who absurdly call themselves 'helicopter
> journalists,''' said professor Bryce Nelson of the
> University of Southern California School of Journalism.
>
> Joe Saltzman, another USC journalism professor, was
> more accepting of the coverage. He said that, while his
> choice would have been to air edited footage, the event
> had definite immediate news value.
>
> ``If I'm home, if I'm going into that area, I want to
> know about,'' he said. ``Nobody's asking a viewer to
> watch. You could go to another channel showing a movie.
> Or turn it off.''
--
Two rules in life:
1. Don't tell people everything you know.
2.
Subscribe/Unsubscribe, email: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
In the body of the message enter: subscribe/unsubscribe law-issues
