Reposting a Live Suicide: Exploring Journalistic Ethics

On Friday, Fox News aired a live car chase in Phoenix that eventually turned into a horrifying spectacle when the driver ran from his car, seemingly incoherent, pulled out a gun and shot himself in the head on live television. Fox News anchor, Shepard Smith, narrated the chase. By the time the driver exited the car, it was clear Smith was getting nervous. Shortly after the suicide was aired, Smith yelled, "Get off it!" multiple times, but to no avail. And since the suicide, the video has gone viral.

While the airing was an honest mistake, according to Fox News, the subsequent distribution of the footage has created a divide in the journalism community. The issue: is it ethical to post a video of a live suicide because it is a legitimate news story, or is it a "sensationalization" of a sensitive subject? Slate staff writer Will Oremus explores both sides of the issue.

He cites Buzzfeed's decision to post an uncensored video of the suicide. The site then tweeted the link out to over 140,000 followers.

Buzzfeed was met with both backlash and praise for their decision. On the one end, it was insensitive, but on the other hand, Buzzfeed's role is to bring what people are talking about most to the forefront.

Where do you stand on the subject? Assuming Fox News truly made an error, and releasing them of blame, is it right for the footage to be circulating the web and for journalists to give the public access to a replay of a terrible moment of live television? Or is it their job as journalists to ensure their audience receives uncensored, untampered with news?

Oremus found Buzzfeed's decision insensitive, but other staff writers for Slate disagree. This issue truly comes down to personal ethics.

Personally, after viewing the disturbing footage, I certainly wish I hadn't been exposed to it. Suicide is so overly sensationalized in popular culture today, and I fear that perhaps the live airing of it only added to the issue. I do stand behind Smith's assurance that it was an accident. Surely I don't think any network would intentionally let such a thing happen. I do understand the question of journalistic ethics here, and that the founders of the United States fought to have uncensored news. I think Buzzfeed could have still presented the story without showing the full video clip.

See Shepard Smith's apology right after the suicide aired. Here he explains the delay Fox News created in order to keep something like this from airing, but they were unable to cut away in time. This raises more questions of ethics. Was Fox News right to try to censor the material in the first place? Smith clearly thinks so.

DoubleX Gabfest: Audio Reporting for Today's Young Woman

Slate.com has a number of regularly updated podcasts on the site. Among the most popular of these podcasts is DoubleX Gabfest, which has a link on the homepage. This week, Hanna Rosin, Noreen Malone, and Allison Benedikt reviewed pop-culture events relevant to today's culturally savvy woman. In their latest podcast, posted on Thursday, September 20th, the women discuss the recent finding of a scrap of papyrus dated from the 4th century that refers to Jesus' wife and suggests that a woman was one of his disciples.

The women explain why this matters today. They cite that in the Catholic church, a priest must be a celibate, unmarried man in order to conform to the model of Jesus. This has recently become a source of controversy in the church, and if this finding was ever found true, it is interesting to consider if this could bring change to the definition of the Catholic priest.

Kaling as Kelly Kapoor on The Office
Image courtesy of Hulu.com

The audio quality of the podcast varies. It is clear that one of the interviews is being conducted over the phone, and there is a huge difference in quality of the audio that is somewhat distracting. The rest of the quality, however, is high and appealing.

The women go on to discuss Mindy Kaling, of The Office fame, and her latest endeavours in entertainment since choosing not to return in a starring role in the "mockumentary's"final season, instead choosing to focus on her new Fox show, The Mindy Project.  Kaling starred in the first eight seasons of The Office and wrote many episodes.

DoubleX praises Kaling for her bravado and willingness to poke fun at herself. They commend her former blog, Things I've Bought That I Love, for its wit, charm, and one-liners that earned Kaling a cult following. Kaling ceased posting in 2008.

DoubleX Podcasts are posted on Thursdays. The DoubleX section of Slate appeals to women's interests.

News Values

When choosing stories to report and publish, it is important to consider the fundamental news values. These are: timeliness, proximity, impact, magnitude, prominence, conflict, novelty and emotional value. Whether the audience is aware of these values or not, most news stories implement at least one.

Timeliness refers to when a story happened. An audience tends to have a short attention span, so the most recent news articles often get the most attention. On Saturday, September 15, 2012, at least two U.S. Marines were killed in an attack on a NATO base in Afghanistan. The Taliban reportedly told BBC that the film Innocence of Muslims was to blame. The film, in which the prophet Muhammad is depicted as a "pedophile-appeasing, bumbling spreader of false doctrine" (Slate) had also been regarded as the motivation behind the murder of US Ambassador, J. Christopher Stevens. Because the latest killing in what is becoming a string of assassinations happened today, the timeliness of the article is very relevant. 


Proximity in a story refers to its location. People tend to take more interest in stories that happened nearby. For now, Boston has been out of national news, but as the NFL season begins, the Patriots will likely be making headlines soon as they seek redemption after last year's super bowl. 


The impact of a story measures the general effect it will have on the public. The teacher's strike in Chicago has had an impact on all of the students of Chicago public schools that cannot attend school during the strike. According to CNN, 400 hours of negotiations could not bring an end to this conflict, and over 400,000 students are unable to go to school Slate. The parents are also affected because they must find alternatives for their children, whether they be different schools or other child care. The impact of this strike so far has been large. 

A story's magnitude measures how many people are affected. It often applies to stories about natural disasters or outbreaks of diseases. In the recent months, West Nile Virus has been increasingly prominent in the southern United States and moving up the east coast into New England. By the end of August, over 1,000 cases had been reported and 42 had died from the disease. Those numbers have been increasing in September. 

A story's prominence is based on who is involved. The more high-profile the subject, the wider an audience the story will likely reach. As we approach election season, stories about President Obama and Republican Candidate Mitt Romney are widely read. Now as Christian conservatives begin questioning the GOP's choice in candidate, Romney continues to make headlines. 

Conflict in a story explains who hates who. The idea of Anti-Americanism is not new or exclusive to Arabic countries. With the mass release of Innocence of Muslims in Egypt, though, a response to Anti-Americanism has come back into the news. This article explains the rising tensions between the U.S. and some members of the Muslim Brotherhood after the attack on the American Embassy in Libya.

The emotional appeal of a story is what tugs on the heart strings. On the 11th anniversary of 9/11, the story of Dave Karnes and his heroism was published on Slate. The former marine along with another  marine rescued two of the last survivors found at the site of the World Trade Center after it collapsed. Karnes drove to Manhattan from Stamford, Connecticut after he heard the news of the attack. He said he had a sense there were people trapped in the debris and was able to rescue two port authority police officers who had been trapped for over nine hours. The emotional appeal in this story is very evident, and it is a great read. 



































































































































































































































































































The novelty of a story reflects how unusual it is. In a story on Slate about gender selection, a woman's journey to finally have a daughter after birthing four sons is chronicled. The story explains some of the process behind preimplantation genetic diagnosis and Simpson's ultimately successful and very expensive journey to becoming the mother of a girl. 

Introduction to Slate.com

The news website I will be tracking over the semester is Slate Magazine. Slate gives its users an easy and interesting way to connect to the news they find most interesting. It features news, videos and blogs  that engage younger generations.

Slate has many examples of different kinds of online journalism. The staff takes full advantage of the many multi-media capabilities of twenty-first century technology in order to provide captivating stories to an audience with a short attention span.

Parallel reporting is a method used frequently by Slate. In this article about Republican Vice-Presidential nominee, Paul Ryan's views on the legalization of medical marijuana, parallel reporting is used to quote Presidential candidate, Mitt Romney's thoughts on the legalization of marijuana and its status as a "gateway drug." Parallel reporting is a type of journalism in which the same story is told in multiple ways. In this particular article, what Romney says in a video interview is quoted in the article.

Another example of multi-media journalism is convergence. Convergence combines news and pictures in different ways to tell a story. In a Slate article about the new novels by Andrew McCarthy and Molly Ringwald, the stars of the 80s classic, "Pretty in Pink," both actors commiserate about life post-stardom and the real world difficulties of relationships not explored in the Brat Pack flicks. The article tells a story and includes pictures of the stars in their roles as Blane and Andie, as well as shots of the cover of McCarthy's book.

An important element of journalism is having the ability to create topics and write pieces that will remain relevant no matter what the current news is. Slate created a series called the Happiness Project, a compilation of posts written to teach readers, "how to be happier." One evergreen article from the Happiness Project is "Seven Tips for Making a Good Conversation With a Stranger." The article gives tips on how to engage in a successful, memorable conversation with a stranger. This will remain relevant for as long as there are strangers in this world.

I had more trouble coming up with examples of interactivity on the site, because many of the old articles that included interactive features have since been deactivated.

The only prominent example of user generated content are comments from readers.

I look forward to tracking Slate over the course of the semester.