A discussion of contemporary issues in media ethics, with olives and a twist. Made with only the freshest ingredients, shaken, stirred and poured over ice. I should also mention that I do like the odd, occasional martini. Bombay Sapphire gin and Lillet, dry and plenty of salty olives. Welcome to this cocktail of journalism and alcohol. A fine combination!

Saturday, 21 April 2007

Networks react to public anger over Cho video. Do we have the first copycat?

Now that NBC and MSNBC have made their point - "we're first", etc, they've pulled back from large scale use of the Cho Seung-Hui suicide video.
I think this is a victory for commonsense (maybe) over commercial imperatives. No doubt NBC has made a lot of money from this video - their stories on it have been syndicated globally. But there's been a strong public reaction against it from academics, grief counsellors and from news consumers.
But, on the downside, have we seen the first directly-linked copycat event at the Johnston Space Center. Thankfully, only one "victim" and the "shooter" were killed here. I don't think any link has been confirmed yet, but the suspicion must be there. [My apologies for linking to Fox News on this]
I certainly thought we'd get some reaction like this as soon as I saw the way NBC had treated the Cho Blacksburg tape.

No comments: