Comments on: Deathwatch

By: Mr Furious

Mr Furious — Tue, 22 Nov 2005 18:01:21 +0000

I hear what you’re saying Greg, and I agree, but I’m not really sure what the media is supposed to do. Yeah, LA car chases—blatant voyeurism and a NASCAR-like hope for a crash or excitement—and not particularly worthy of the coverage.

But the planes? I remember tinking the same thing about the JetBlue incident a few months ago, and coming to the conclusion that if the capability exists to show news as it unfolds, perhaps they are obligated to? A plane crash is surely major news. If you are able to cover a potential crash ahead of time, and don’t because the ending is uncertain, is that better?

By: steve

steve — Thu, 17 Nov 2005 20:19:43 +0000

Anyone got a link to the LA shotgun whacking? That sounds awesome.

By: briantologist

briantologist — Thu, 17 Nov 2005 17:31:58 +0000

Did you hear the “This American Life” story about the car chase that lasted several hours wherein the guy fleeing the cops drove in a perfectly lawful manner, staying under the speed limit using his turn signals, et cetera? The news covered it throughout, even well after the police had STOPPED CHASING THE SUSPECT. In other words, they showed “breaking news” footage of a guy driving.

Eventually he ran out of gas. I’m totally not kidding. Here’s a link to the story:

http://207.70.82.73/ra/248.ram

(If the link doesn’t work, visit thislife.org and search for episode 248, “Like it or Not”.)