Fox News airs suicide

Shepherd Smith was far ahead of his production team, he made it clear on air that he wasn't happy with the events.

The question is what happened to the '5 second delay'... although 5 seconds doesn't seem much to me. I suspect it did come into play but was ineffective for that reason.

The American habit of rolling with any old car chase hasn't reached the UK (yet) but I'm certain that the news organisations here have a lot more editorial nouse when it comes to putting out live feeds that would potentially contain graphic events. Although they wouldn't fall over themselves to cover something like a car chase in the first place

Not knowing the intricacies of Fox News and it's organisation, was this a local version, or on an international feed? If the later, I suspenct many regulators in other countries would be instigating investigations into the transmission.

Whilst the Studio B show was shown in the UK last night, I don't know if the UK feed was cut and whether the final moments of the incident were broadcast or not.

I find it kinda ironic that for all the stuff that FOX News has done to promote bad journalism and propoganda, something that they had little to no control over, with or without delay, could potentially damage them more. Outside of the US, they might well be in regulatory trouble with organisations like OFCOM, CRTC and ACMA. Inside the US, there is a growing argument that cable channels should be regulated by the FCC. This incident will only strengthen their case.

It was the Fox News Channel, not one of the local TV stations (although of course the pictures were coming from a local station). As far as I know apart from the ad breaks there's not difference between the one that goes out in the US and the one that goes out abroad.


Highly unlikely I'd have thought. All Sky do to it here is insert breaks for the UK, I wouldn't have thought that there is a procedure to blank bits of the channel or anyone present to make that decision.

And of course if the production gallery in New York with a delay didn't react fast enough to take it off air, a transmission controller at Sky certainly won't have been!

But they did have control over it. It didn't just appear on air randomly, they chose to broadcast it (as they do fairly regularly) and that's the risk you take even with a delay.

I don't think it will damage them or change their penchant for car chases, but it will tighten up their procedures. It certainly won't do any damage to Shepherd Smith's reputation, he's one of Fox's better presenters and came out of that well

Oh, you think that maybe they were in control of the perp, and they could have told him in his earpiece not to kill himself on live television. [/sarcasm]

Once you have decided you are covering a live breaking story, then the only decision open to you, is when you stop. Otherwise, you are at the total whims of the live breaking news.

Was it more shocking than watching the second plane fly into the World Trade Centre? OH HELL NO!

That's what's so ironic. That piece of breaking news really made that channel. This piece of breaking news coverage could do more damage than any of the "Tiller The Baby Killer" drumbeats that FOX News amplified, which was by miles, the more heinous crime.

What was shown last night was very different to live coverage of the riots, or a war.

There will have been many cases where a death or an action that subsequently caused a death has been shown on the news. A very specific image of a person taking his own life is much more graphic and taboo, and in this case gratuitous.

The only similar incidence I know of is that of Bud Dwyer's suicide in the 1980's which wasn't live.

Yes, that is what they are in control of.

They were under no obligation to start showing it or continue showing it once it was taken to air. The editorial decision rests entirely with the editor who was overseeing that broadcast and it's his call. They put a delay in which is still risky and didn't seem to have worked but that's wasn't their only option


Of course not but they're totally different things.

A major unpredictable world event vs a personal tragedy at the end of a fairly routine event that was only on air for the sake of it.

Erm, they are a commercial broadcaster, and in this day and age, live = more viewers, more viewers = more impacts for advertisers. It's a no-brainer. You seriously think they are going to turn down live coverage of a breaking news story, when it means more viewers?



Personal tragedy? We don't know that yet. Reports only indicate that he carjacked the car he was driving and repeatedly fired at police during the chase. Until we have some more information, we don't really know whether this was a tragedy that had spiralled out of control, or whether in fact he was a career criminal who did everyone a favour. We'll find out soon enough.

When the second plane flew into the World Trade Centre, hundreds of people died, in that split second. That was a tragedy. It was also cold-blooded murder. Here one man died, and he chose to take his own life. We are still waiting to find out if that was a tragedy too.

What a lovely man you are.

A mans life has gone, there is every chance he'll have people who love and care for him. So it's bound to be someones tragedy. It's certainly a tragedy that his life turned out that way for him anyway.

I watched it live, and although Shep Smith made a fully sincere and dignified apology afterwards, it begs the question, why was the national broadcaster airing a car chase in the first place? You'd have thought these things would be more suited to local affiliates, not beamed across the world for millions to potentially witness. I think more and better safeguards need to be put in place, it's not as if it was before the watershed in the UK - it was lunchtime in Midwest USA.