In Class Assignment 25 Apr. 2007

1. Should NBC News have aired any of the footage? Some of the footage? How should that be determined?

I personally believe they should have aired it. It fell in their lap, it had huge news value, and people want to know about it. Based on the fact of whether or not people should be exposed to it is their own personal decision. If someone does not want to watch it they do not HAVE to watch it. I didn't see the actual video, so I don't know if there was anything outrageous that would be hard for anybody to watch, but if there was not I don't see any reason to not have aired the footage. Also, you have to think if you were in that situation and you had this huge news story, you would probably air it, because there is nothing seriously unethical about it in my mind.

2. As a journalist, what are the ethical considerations in determining coverage of this controversial content?

Some things that come to my mind are whether or not this video footage will give ideas to other people looking for attention and who want to mimic what the killer did. They could use the video to try and get attention and commit a crime themselves. Another ethical consideration is taking into account the victims and their families and friends. They may not want this story to keep being told on the news with video footage of the killer being shown over and over. Many average viewers may also want to just forget this and put it behind them, so that they are not dwelling on it. The last consideration that I can think of is the fact that NBC could profit from this. Of course, I don't see a way around them making a profit, but you have to ask if they should have the right to make all the profit off of this tragic story and video.