What's Changed?
After the September 11th attacks, I sat glued to the TV for hours and hours. I cannot remember even once seeing a dead body, even though thousands died. The rationale at the time, I believe, was that the images would be too graphic for a national audience- especially an audience composed of children. (For the same reason, footage of the planes striking the towers was quickly pulled from the air.)
Fast forward to Hurricane Katrina- I've seen three dead bodies on either TV or major news websites, such as MSNBC.com. These don't include the ones wrapped in sheets, either. The images are quite graphic- one especially disturbing one shows a woman floating facedown in the water.
What has changed in the last four years that warrants this shift in journalistic focus? I don't have children yet, but I guarantee you I wouldn't want them seeing some of the images I've seen. Why has the filter been removed?
Did I just miss the footage of the dead bodies after the terrorist attacks, or do I have a valid point?
Fast forward to Hurricane Katrina- I've seen three dead bodies on either TV or major news websites, such as MSNBC.com. These don't include the ones wrapped in sheets, either. The images are quite graphic- one especially disturbing one shows a woman floating facedown in the water.
What has changed in the last four years that warrants this shift in journalistic focus? I don't have children yet, but I guarantee you I wouldn't want them seeing some of the images I've seen. Why has the filter been removed?
Did I just miss the footage of the dead bodies after the terrorist attacks, or do I have a valid point?
posted by Yorick at 4:49 PM
2 Comments:
you do have a valid point, and i think it was sept 11th that changed things subconciously in the minds of Americans, or maybe the media mongers. i've noticed a shift in the amount of dead you see on the news as well as CSI and Law&Order. they used to prepare you for it, now it's a shot out of nowhere--all of a sudden you are staring at a corpse. i watched a story on MSN a few months back about this nun who had moved to south american and had lived her life serving the poor of that country when she was gunned down. they just kept showing this picture of her lying face down on the dirt path. i was like 'give the woman some dignity! she's spent her life in service!' it's really quite disturbing.
also--think it's great what you're doing with this blog as an aid to victims of the hurricane.
Absolutely valid point. There's a fine line between giving viewers a realistic picture of what's going on, and sensationalizing the story, at the expense of other people's dignity. Some networks are worse about this than others.
Post a Comment
<< Home