So Fox News basically aired a live snuff film tonight, a suicide

Not sure if I dare post a link. Even to the edited version. I guess that boundary has been crossed.

Accidentally aired. Accidentally. I really don't think they meant to show that.

I've watched it and the guy in the studio was saying to cut it (several times) and looked really upset.

Yeah, accidentally, my ass.

What advantage did they get by airing it once, without any prior advertising? What advantage is there for Shepard smith to have to apologize afterward?

If fox wants more ratings, how does that help them?

Shepard Smith claims the feed was on a 10 second delay and something went wrong. I'm not watching the video so I wonder how fast the suicide occurred. If the dude had been waving his gun around for a bit first, they should've cut away much sooner since the obvious possible outcome was a shoot out with the cops. If it happened too quickly, either it wasn't delayed (wtf?) or somebody didn't cut away on time (wtf?).

Honestly, I think it's worse that the video was uploaded to places like YouTube and Buzzfeed just in case anyone missed it the first time.

Yeah. I was going to link a version that blacked out the suicide but thought better of it. It's disturbing enough to watch Shep Smith shouting for them to cut away. Which he does with plenty of time.

So yeah, accidental, but why do they show garbage like that anyways as if it were news?

It was actually a 5 second delay.

He got out of the car and was running away from the cops, though you can't see the cops. He does in fact have the gun in his hand, but it's not really all that clear since the guy is stumbling around and whatnot along with the picture not being the greatest (it's shot from a helicopter). When he does shoot himself, his back is to the camera so you can't see what he's doing with his hands, which are in front of his body for a moment. He then puts the gun to his head and pulls the trigger.

I don't think Fox meant to show you a suicide, but they clearly wanted to show some action as apparently they had followed the chase for a while and Shep even said he wanted to air more of it (as in they had to cut away to talk about less interesting things, ie. other news).

Mystic Violet wrote:

Honestly, I think it's worse that the video was uploaded to places like YouTube and Buzzfeed just in case anyone missed it the first time.

Yep.

garion333 wrote:

I don't think Fox meant to show you a suicide, but they clearly wanted to show some action as apparently they had followed the chase for a while and Shep even said he wanted to air more of it (as in they had to cut away to talk about less interesting things, ie. other news).

Also yep. And also one of the many reasons why I frankly find it disgusting for any "news" organization to insist on showing us these "real life cops & robbers videos!" All it does is pander to the basest and most disgusting form of human "entertainment"; sh*t like gladiator matches, dogfights, etc. The lesson of "The Most Dangerous Game" isn't supposed to be "sh*t yeah, hunting humans is f*cking awesome!"

DSGamer wrote:

So yeah, accidental, but why do they show garbage like that anyways as if it were news?

Because news is whatever people want to hear or see. TV and films show realistic looking fake deaths for entertainment (which they didn't do prior to the 1970s). It's no wonder people are curious about what the real thing looks like.

[edit- or are you referring to live car chases rather than violence?]

The car chase. That's news if you're a sleazy local station.

From the hosts reaction, I think it was an accident or, at least, he didnt want it shown. However, there's...something peculiar to have this line that says you can show everything leading up to the death, but the death itself isn't appropriate.

It's not as if they knew he was going to end up dead. In all likelihood he was going to be arrested on live tv, which is basically just a Cops episode.

Perhaps live things of this nature ought have a 30* second delay, it's not as though it makes any difference to the audience.'

*arbitrary number, I'm not sure how long would really be appropriate or necessary to avoid this sort of incident.

Meh, how many times has the footage from the LA bank shootout been shown on TV? That included a gunman committing suicide so it's a bit late to be all up in arms about them showing a guy shooting himself.

I saw the uncensored footage. Honestly, not that big of a deal. I've seen far worse in games and movies.

Not sure what that says about me when I find it pretty tame.

It says that we're less affected by stuff at a distance than we are by things that appear to be very close.

Edwin wrote:

I saw the uncensored footage. Honestly, not that big of a deal. I've seen far worse in games and movies.

Not sure what that says about me when I find it pretty tame.

That wasn't a subroutine shooting itself in the head.

It was an unfortunate mistake on the part of Fox News and kudos to Smith for profusely apologizing for it.

That being said, if a 20-second clip of a porn movie had been broadcast, Congress would probably already be setting up hearings on the issue.

Not if Fox did it. They'd say "Oh, technical glitch, could happen to anyone" and go on about their day.

Maq wrote:
Edwin wrote:

I saw the uncensored footage. Honestly, not that big of a deal. I've seen far worse in games and movies.

Not sure what that says about me when I find it pretty tame.

That wasn't a subroutine shooting itself in the head.

I know that logically, but it just doesn't seem to elicit an emotional response that it should.

Phoenix Rev wrote:

It was an unfortunate mistake on the part of Fox News and kudos to Smith for profusely apologizing for it.

That being said, if a 20-second clip of a porn movie had been broadcast, Congress would probably already be setting up hearings on the issue.

That happened during the airing of a football game, if I remember correctly. Nothing came of it other than apologies.

I have no idea what you guys are referencing other than what's been posted in this thread.

Vector wrote:
Phoenix Rev wrote:

It was an unfortunate mistake on the part of Fox News and kudos to Smith for profusely apologizing for it.

That being said, if a 20-second clip of a porn movie had been broadcast, Congress would probably already be setting up hearings on the issue.

That happened during the airing of a football game, if I remember correctly. Nothing came of it other than apologies.

I have no idea what you guys are referencing other than what's been posted in this thread.

Specifically, the 2009 incident where the Comcast Super Bowl analog feed in Arazona had a 30-second interruption. Apparently the FCC arrested someone over it last year.

Edwin wrote:
Maq wrote:
Edwin wrote:

I saw the uncensored footage. Honestly, not that big of a deal. I've seen far worse in games and movies.

Not sure what that says about me when I find it pretty tame.

That wasn't a subroutine shooting itself in the head.

I know that logically, but it just doesn't seem to elicit an emotional response that it should.

I wouldn't beat yourself up over it. Presumed innocent until proven guilty and all that, but the guy was running from the cops with a gun. I find it hard to empathize with that. He could have made the choice to stop. Then again, being who I am and believing what I do, all I can think is he moved himself on to his next incarnation. Maybe sooner than expected, maybe right on time.

Plus you didn't know the guy, had no connection with him, etc. that you know of.

From what little I've seen of him, I quite like Shep Smith. He seems like a standup guy.

Except for his True Blood obsession...

This is not the first time this has happened. A few years ago I remember the same situation, but I'll be damned if I can remember any information besides it being a guy in a pickup with a rifle.

The level of hypocricy is so frustrating to me.

I saw the video in question and it was taken from a sufficient distance that you could tell what happened but there was no gore. The way Sheppard Smith got so pissed it was pretty obvious it was a screw up.

But why? Why can't they show that? It's the only honest thing they probably showed on that station all day.

I get so frustrated with America. We glorify and revel in this violence. We commit violence abroad. We treat our guns like religious artifacts and we cultivate a culture of violence yet god forbid anyone actually see the end result of this.

People SHOULD see death. It may give them a greater appreciation for life. Yes, it's f*cked up and there is some f*cked up things out there but that is the world and that is humanity. This clinical view of humanity where the "news" tries to protect us from the bad stuff only does a great injustice.

Every time we bomb someone we should have the aftermath on national TV. See the wounded children and the charred bodies. No stomach for it? Then maybe think twice before you support the people that make the decisions to use these tactics. (not the service members that carry out their orders...this isn't about that)

We are human animals. We live, we die, and no matter of obfuscation is going to protect us from death. Instead of being so utterly and completely terrified by it as it seems we are as a people we need to accept it for what it is.

This is not news, this is entertainment. I think a more appropriate response from Sheppard Smith would have been for him to stand up, arms thrown wide, and scream "ARE YOU NOT ENTERTAINED?".

Are we sure we want to be seeing live deaths on TV? I'm not arguing against the newsworthiness. I just think the main reason we don't cross that line is so someone doesn't go commit murders for fame / entertainment. I would not be shocked if we eventually had Running Man were FOX not criticized for / chastened by this.

I saw this live with some coworkers during lunch and I think it was disgusting and repugnant.

After the apology my boss snickered and yelled "Good job Fox Snooze!" I work with a real sarcastic bunch.

I believe that there is ZERO reason to be showing a live car chase on a national cable channel.

[jk]Don't they have a President to bash?[/jk]

Seriously though, there were tons of other new going on at the moment to report. I could see it all on the ticker below.

DSGamer wrote:

Are we sure we want to be seeing live deaths on TV? I'm not arguing against the newsworthiness. I just think the main reason we don't cross that line is so someone doesn't go commit murders for fame / entertainment. I would not be shocked if we eventually had Running Man were FOX not criticized for / chastened by this.

They don't do this already?

What is the difference between showing the actual act and showing them in court for months and years afterwards or plastering their mug shot on every newspaper across the nation?

People *want* that. They love all the trappings around it. We love to read about the Batman shooter and see his crazy ass mugshots and ponder the greater meaning and ramification of his horrendous acts but if someone wanted to show the actual shooting THAT is going too far.

Our TV shows essentially ARE the running man. We can show shocking acts of violence on TV but only if it is fake. THat video was less violent than the average episode of BOnes or CSI.

This skewed view of mortality and violence where the "make believe" stuff is okay to overdose on but we can't show any real or actual violence only serves to desensitize people in the worse way. Violence becomes commonplace but the actual mechanism of violence is hidden by a wall of make believe.

If our society is so corrupt as to want a version of Running Man then we deserve it. Maybe it would take something like that to open people's eyes to reality.

I don't condone violence but masking violence in a veil of make believe makes the real thing unreal to people.