Comments on: Standards for the News

By: Jennifer

Jennifer — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 20:13:34 +0000

Thank you Gillean for your support and comment re: this issue. How you responded was a mirror image to my experience. It astounds me that they were unable to see how completely inappropriate, unnecessary and insensitive this was. It was too late, they have permanently changed the way I view the event and you are right our protection from and processing time to look away was not considered.

For all the people that contacted the station across the country, which I heard directly from CTV staff was overwhelming, I applaud you!

By: Jennifer

Jennifer — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 20:01:26 +0000

Thanks for the additional information, I have heard that the British media is covering this event much differently and more negatively. I’m sure our reaction to the coverage of the death was far down their list.
It shows too, that depending on what you read and who you listen to there are varying opinions. In listening to our sports news director for a local news station he seemed to feel the degree of difficulty is what separates the athletes and mentioned the Calgary track. Yesterday it was also mentioned that Germany had a track that was far more intense than this….so, I guess the debate will continue. Suffice to say, if they love the sport they’ll stay in it, if they are fearful about where it is going or the difficulty involved they will move on.
Either way, the only thing that matters to me is that in the future the media shows a little more compassion.

By: Gillean

Gillean — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 22:40:29 +0000

Just wanted to back up your sentiment because when the CTV anchor prefaced that last-moment clip with ‘we believe it necessary to the story’..I remember tensing up and the fleeting thought crossing my mind: ‘they can’t possibly be going to show that athlete’s actual death to us all —’ and then the horror of exactly that appearing before my eyes..before I even had a split second to even consider that maybe I should turn the tv off or change channel before it was too late to avoid that image imprint in my brain. I was angry that there hadn’t been even a ‘the following scene may be inappropriate for some viewers’ warning…nothing. I didn’t believe the media would be so irresponsible and my disbelief cost me that thought processing time required to quickly look away. I then remember my first enraged thought following was ‘..HOW THE HELL WAS THAT NECESSARY TO THE STORY??????

By: Pat (aka Trish)

Pat (aka Trish) — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 11:32:49 +0000

Thank you for adding the context of the TV showing.
The news coverage and photos of the young man’s death and the subsequent film of his open casket funeral were shown in Europe, on most news channels.
But there was no commentary regarding Canadian outrage of the repeated showings.

Modern day aspirations and socio/economic “goal posts” for media, ( reflected in significant numbers of the buying/viewing public),… are commonly… viewing numbers, sales, trim bodies, sex, creating & defining an enemy to fight & defying death and aging.
While the order of these priorities may change, but those subjects have most often set the agenda, during the past two decades.

On the subject of CCTV? According to a “man in the know” it is not quite the crime solving solution that was anticipated.
This August 2009 Daily Telegraph story link explains.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/crime/6082530/1000-CCTV-cameras-to-solve-just-one-crime-Met-Police-admits-html

The Vancouver 2010 track differs significantly from the Calgary LUGE track.
The 2010 track is much narrower than either the Olympic tracks used in Salt Lake City and Calgary’s one. Mistakes? Not much leeway for correction.

The reported desired outcome of the Vancouver track design, was to create “the fastest track in the world”, & one that could be used later for commercial purposes.

The long, narrow, sharp curved track produced PRACTICE run speeds of over 140k per hour…creating an incredible load and strain on young bodies, protected only by a safety helmet.

(Sources: Toronto Star, IOC and the Wall Street Journal)

By: Jennifer

Jennifer — Sun, 21 Feb 2010 02:02:59 +0000

Yes, you are right Pat, times have changed.

In this particular case, the luge event had not started yet. Not even televised, as it was a practise run. It was given as news, in the middle of celebratory chatter. The next thing that happened… viewers we were being told of an accident that had occurred earlier, a cut to the scene of the luger and then we watched his crash. A decision was made to air something that was not previously even on the air. Totally could have been edited to take out the actual death but they did not do that. That is what upset the public. It was not live coverage but a call made to show his death/crash afterward.

Don’t know who Mary Whitehouse is but most “public morality” types are usually coming from some religious side, which I clearly have no affiliation with. I come from common sense, compassion and from the perspective Lydia commented on, what path are we on and what does it do to our soul?

As to CCTV etc., I have no problem with some street monitors. If it helps catch some robbers, keeps a street safer, maybe helps somebody catch a child abductor, profiles a potential threat, I don’t care. I have nothing to worry about as as law abiding citizen, so who cares who is watching? The fact is there are people who can’t monitor themselves and are walking targets or running criminals. As long as I’m consulted along with my fellow citizens before implementation, I think that is important to consider.

There is no doubt the photo you are speaking of was heart-stopping, but did we receive that photo without proper warning while watching a celebration? NO. Did it make a difference, possibly, but it was the backdrop of war.

We learned nothing from seeing this young man die, this track was used in Calgary, it is a sport and many have been on that track successfully. The skill level needs to be high and that is what competition demands. That day the world was being treated to an opening ceremony torch run celebration. The choice to air or not to air a young man’s death in motion, that is the question?

Thanks for your comment and a great historical perspective to add to this post.