There's some discussion in Louisville today over the use of graphic video of a bank robber being shot to death yesterday. WHAS's cameras caught the robber being gunned down by a police SWAT team. And, although the station digitally blurred the image of the man actually being shot, some critics are saying the station went too far.
Watch the coverage here.
WHAS News Director Aaron Ramey defends his decision here.
What do you think?
9 comments:
After reading the article I concluded that it goes hand in hand with the Virgina Tech story. The question is should certain images, graphics, or background noises be shown or heard? In most cases I would say yes. Why lie or withhold information to the audience. If they do not want to see certain images then simply change the channel.
Abby Buzick
RT311
It's hard to say if they should with hold the footage. I think the public should know what went on at the bank and if they do not want to see it the station should tell their audience to look away or turn the channel if they do not want to see it.
I agree that this image should have been shown. Too often, a positive spin is added to hard news. Many images of the war in Iraq are not shown for this reason. As a member of the public, I want to see what is going on in the world around me, even if it is graphic. It's reality.
After working in Louisville this summer, I've seen firsthand how competitive the market is. I feel that in this case, WHAS will do whatever they can to keep high ratings. In this case, I think they went too far in showing such graphic images.
Violence is all around us, a part of our everyday lives. Therefore, it should be included in our news. The robbery footage is fair game. Graphic material was blurred as to not offend people. Personally, I would have rather seen the unedited version. Americans have to understand that someone commits a violent crime, they will face the consequences.
I was let down after watching the robbery footage. It was a shock to me that they blurred out a real video. It seemed as if they were so proud they had the video footage. The reporter even warned us before showing it in full, but they still didn't give us the REAL video. It seems sad that we can watch blood and violence on every show, but when it comes to real life we have to withhold true details. I def. feel if they warn the viewer, they should show the ACTUAL video!!
As an American audience that has experienced reality TV this is nothing new. Most of us have been de-sensitized to real life violence because of our high levels of exposure. I personally think it is great that they showed the footage. This perhaps may tell the public that robbing a bank is a bad idea. This clip is looking out for those idiots who haven’t already figured out that bank robbing is a serious offense!
I do go along with Abby with some of things she's saying, but at the same time, it is news and if it is graphic, then why not show it so the viewers and readers can get the full affect of the story at hand, and not treat it as if it is unimportant.
I don't understand why they can show blood, sex, and violence on TV, but when it comes to the news, they have to censor something that the people need to see. Like Christen said, some of the idiots out there need to see that this is what can happen if you rob a bank.
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