Fox News Broadcasts Suicide On Live Television

[webfact]

Fox broadcasts suicide on live TV

PHOENIX: -- A man apparently shot himself in the head on live television at the end of a high-speed chase that began in Phoenix.

Fox News was covering the chase that began at midday Friday using a live helicopter shot from its Phoenix affiliate when the man driving the small vehicle stopped, ran into the desert and appeared to place a handgun to his head and fire.

Fox News anchor Shepard Smith told viewers minutes later that the video was supposed to be on a delay.

Full story: http://www.smh.com.a...0929-26rjm.html

-- The Sydney Morning Herald 2012-09-29

[asiawatcher]

Gutter journalism. That's Fox. No excuse.

[Ulysses G.]

There is an excuse. It was live.

[bendejo]

Not live any more.

I'm disappointed, from the headline I thought one of the Fox crew did what Howard Beale only threatened to.

I was hoping it was O'Reilly.

[webfact]

Fox News apologizes for airing carjacker suicide

Fox News management has apologized for a live broadcast of a carjacker committing suicide during a car chase on Friday.

A man who hijacked a car in Phoenix, Arizona, was pursued by the police for more than an hour.

The pursuit was aired live with a five-second delay.

According to police reports, the carjacker was driving at a speed of nearly 170 km/h and he kept shooting back during the chase.

At one point, the carjacker turned off the highway, stopped the car, got out and shot himself in the head.

However, the broadcasting did not discontinue as he put a gun to his head.

Lenta.ru

Source: http://english.ruvr....jacker-suicide/

-- THE VOICE OF RUSSIA 2012-09-29

[Chicog]

Fox love this shit. They'll compile into the next episode of "American's Zaniest Drivers" or some other such drivel they vomit forth for their brainless viewers.

[keemapoot]

Fox really shouldn't be called a news channel, particularly not a national or international one. Besides their notoriously biased political agenda, which seems to permeate through most of their programming, the only hard news is US-centric topical news reported by about 3 of their news hour people, and the rest is devoted to in-depth focus on sensationalist stories like the one here.

[canuckamuck]

Fox is designed to get ratings, just like most other programs. That being said, I can see how a 5 second delay wasn't enough to censor the feed. I am sure someone in a control room hesitated too long. It is not like they had a script.

Anyhow, TV is full of fantasy violence. A dose of shocking reality is probably needed.

[koheesti]

Fox is designed to get ratings, just like most other programs. That being said, I can see how a 5 second delay wasn't enough to censor the feed. I am sure someone in a control room hesitated too long. It is not like they had a script.

Anyhow, TV is full of fantasy violence. A dose of shocking reality is probably needed.

I never thought they should air car chases anyway, it just encourages the nuts out there..AND it IS NOT NEWS. Everyone wants to be an OJ these days.

At least maybe this may send home the message that these joy rides don't always have a happy ending that you can laugh at later with your friends on Facebook. Well, on second thought, no. The losers who take the cops on a chase will never learn.

[koheesti]

Fox love this shit. They'll compile into the next episode of "American's Zaniest Drivers" or some other such drivel they vomit forth for their brainless viewers.

"World's Dumbest Criminals" is pretty hilarious.

[bkkjames]

Fox is and always has been what it is. More shocking is how poor Cable Not News Network has become over the last decade...talk about a incredible downward fall from grace.

[koheesti]

Fox really shouldn't be called a news channel, particularly not a national or international one. Besides their notoriously biased political agenda, which seems to permeate through most of their programming, the only hard news is US-centric topical news reported by about 3 of their news hour people, and the rest is devoted to in-depth focus on sensationalist stories like the one here.

I saw an interview between O'Reilly and Ted Koppel (non-Americans can google him). Bill correctly pointed out that Fox is hard news for about 8 hours during the day while MSNBC has zero hard news. Then Ted correctly pointed out that Fox's ratings come AFTER the hard news reporting during the day. Bill said that he still thinks he's providing a valuable service, Ted looked at him, paused, then made a little kissing sound. Hilarious.

Fox in the evening is certainly biased to the Right, just like every other TV news outlet is biased to the Left. THAT is why it is so obvious that they are biased, because they are the only ones giving the perspective of the Right. That DOES NOT mean they are wrong. Also, at least on their shows they always have someone presenting the other side of the argument. It IS NOT a right wing love fest by a long shot. The left winger might be outnumbered, just like right wingers on other shows.

All of this doesn't excuse Fox for showing the trashy chases. I hope this makes them re-think doing it in the future.

Edited September 29, 2012 by koheesti

[Asiantravel]

Fox really shouldn't be called a news channel, particularly not a national or international one. Besides their notoriously biased political agenda, which seems to permeate through most of their programming, the only hard news is US-centric topical news reported by about 3 of their news hour people, and the rest is devoted to in-depth focus on sensationalist stories like the one here.

I saw an interview between O'Reilly and Ted Koppel (non-Americans can google him). Bill correctly pointed out that Fox is hard news for about 8 hours during the day while MSNBC has zero hard news. Then Ted correctly pointed out that Fox's ratings come AFTER the hard news reporting during the day. Bill said that he still thinks he's providing a valuable service, Ted looked at him, paused, then made a little kissing sound. Hilarious.

Fox in the evening is certainly biased to the Right, just like every other TV news outlet is biased to the Left. THAT is why it is so obvious that they are biased, because they are the only ones giving the perspective of the Right. That DOES NOT mean they are wrong. Also, at least on their shows they always have someone presenting the other side of the argument. It IS NOT a right wing love fest by a long shot. The left winger might be outnumbered, just like right wingers on other shows.

All of this doesn't excuse Fox for showing the trashy chases. I hope this makes them re-think doing it in the future.

Fox in the evening is certainly biased to the Right, just like every other TV news outlet is biased to the Left.

[rijb]

How can Fox show a guy shooting himself in the head and not show Romney shooting himself in the foot?

[Asiantravel]

How can Fox show a guy shooting himself in the head and not show Romney shooting himself in the foot?

...........and not show Obama shooting himself in multiple feet.......... if he had that many?

Edited September 29, 2012 by Asiantravel

[HeavyDrinker]

Could any of you show me a news channel which doesn't have an agenda?

[Greer]

There is an excuse. It was live.

Actually no, thats not an excuse - when putting coverage of events like this to air, they are supposed to use a delay in the output that goes to air, so that they can censor anything untoward, such as violence or bad language.

Fox need a good kick in the backside for this, not to mention a very hefty fine from the governing authority.

It is completely inexcusable.

I am a broadcast engineer and I am horrified at such stupidity as to allow live to air coverage of a potentially explosive situation that could easily end up with very graphic and inappropriate material going to air.

[HeavyDrinker]

You lot will be whining about the live coverage of the second plane hitting the WTC next....

[koheesti]

It is completely inexcusable.

I am a broadcast engineer and I am horrified at such stupidity as to allow live to air coverage of a potentially explosive situation that could easily end up with very graphic and inappropriate material going to air.

Then you understand that mistakes can and do happen. They had switched over to a 5 second delay and that is why, according to Shep that he didn't speak for 10 seconds. Someone dropped the ball on making the switch to the feed going out over the broadcast. As a broadcast engineer, you understand that this can happen. I'm sure over your career you have some stories of some mistakes.

[Ulysses G.]

If you see the actual incident, it would be very easy to not realize what had happened for a lot more than 10 seconds. It is shot from very far away and it is very difficult to tell what the guy is doing. He gets out of the car and starts running away and suddenly falls over and it is hard to tell why. Shepard Smith did realize what was happening and told the engineer to end the shot, but it was too late.

Fox News does not have any more of an "agenda" than the left-leaning news agencies do, it just has a more conservative one.

Edited September 29, 2012 by Ulysses G.

[koheesti]

I saw an interview between O'Reilly and Ted Koppel (non-Americans can google him). Bill correctly pointed out that Fox is hard news for about 8 hours during the day while MSNBC has zero hard news. Then Ted correctly pointed out that Fox's ratings come AFTER the hard news reporting during the day. Bill said that he still thinks he's providing a valuable service, Ted looked at him, paused, then made a little kissing sound. Hilarious.

found it...

[keemapoot]

I downloaded and watched that episode of "Rock Center" with Brian Williams. It's kind of sad to see those two last warriors of objective journalism as among the last of their old skool breed. I suppose old deceased legendary objective newscasters like Walter Cronkite, Chet Huntley, David Brinkley, and even honorable partisan commentators and analysts like William F. Buckley must all be turning in their graves.

Fox is toxic, similar to MSNBC, which covers the opposite spectrum. Meanwhile, you have inept CNN and others trying to cover the middle. And, through all this, the quest for higher ratings, and hence the preoccupation with broadcasting sensational garbage.

http://middlebororeview.blogspot.com/2012/09/ted-koppel-fox-news-bad-for-america.html

[aussiebebe]

How very sad, condolences to the deceased man's family and friends.

[chuckd]

I think Shepard Smith's on air comments immediately after the incident should be watched by certain of our members.

It would seem to be a heartfelt apology. Make your own judgement.

[Neurath]

Could any of you show me a news channel which doesn't have an agenda?

Probably not; but there's at least a couple without news.

[Chicog]

I think Shepard Smith's on air comments immediately after the incident should be watched by certain of our members.

It would seem to be a heartfelt apology. Make your own judgement.

Great bit of delivery, but you don't need to be a rocket scientist to know that it if wasn't for the uproar over Janet Jackson's tit, Fox would be showing every piece of filth and grime they could.

It's a Murdoch thing, that's how he's built his empire.

Oh, and personally I'm not even going to bother to look, but I daresay a load of rubberneckers have posted this on Youtube and a load more rubberneckers have had a good old look at it.

Edited September 29, 2012 by Chicog

[koheesti]

I think Shepard Smith's on air comments immediately after the incident should be watched by certain of our members.

It would seem to be a heartfelt apology. Make your own judgement.

It was obviously an honest mistake, when you watch the live feed once it happened Shep started yelling "get off it! get off it! get off it!" thinking he had 5 secs before the audience saw it. Anyone who thinks otherwise is probably much worse of a human being than they like to believe anyone at Fox is.

[Credo]

<Snipped>

It was obviously an honest mistake

That sounds like something we would hear from a Thai politician.

[geriatrickid]

Much ado about nothing. I do not like FOX, but do sometimes watch the car chases. I even like the show COPS because it provides insight into a different world. There, I admit it.

I saw the video. I do not think FOX intentionally aired the death and accept the explanation. The commentator was visibly upset. His reaction was not staged. The man shot himself. Big deal. It was cetainly less violent than a typical shooting scene in a film or TV show. There was no gore.

the event even serves an educational purpose and puts many aspects of the situation in perspective. Had there not been a video, we would be treated to all sorts of allegations of police brutality, of improper police procedures etc. There were no police in close proximity and the police kept well back in the pursuit. No chance for the typical conspiracy nonsense to be alleged. The deceased gave up all rights to privacy the moment he engaged in his activity, which put other people's lives at risk. The event may even have a positive impact if it impresses on people that no good will come out of attempting to escape the police by speeding away.

[bendejo]

Shepherd Smith is the only one of those Fox people who shows some sense of embarrassment at the ridiculous stuff he has to read. Not that I watch it that often...

Does anyone know if any of the Fox people have ever left and found broadcasting work elsewhere? Or does Ailes do character assassinations on defectors?

A favorite jab was by Olbermann, who said:

"...Bill Hemmer, who had a career in journalism that he gave up to work at Fox..."

MSNBC was more like CNN at the beginning, they rose up to what they are now in response to Fox. I think CNN was trying to get a piece of Fox's audience when they hired Nancy Grace.