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Fox News Drills Staff on 5-Second Delay After Televising Suicide

Oct 3, 2012  •  Post A Comment

Fox News Channel has drilled its staff on using a 5-second delay in an effort to ensure that the channel never repeats what happened Friday, when Fox News televised a suicide, reports TVNewser.com.

As previously reported, FNC was airing live coverage of an Arizona police chase when the suspect suddenly shot himself in the head.

On Sunday, Executive Vice President of News Michael Clemente circulated a memo telling producers to run through the delay system to make sure staffers know how and when to use it, the story adds.

Clemente’s memo includes the following passage, according to TVNewser: “Mistakes happen. When they happen at Fox News, the rest of the media piles on — that’s what happens when you are a market leader.

“When they involve images that can be disturbing to young people or those in society who are unable to process such nightmares, it’s even more important that we handle issues like this with full confidence that our systems will work.”

Clemente blames the incident on “severe human error.” While there were rumors that whoever caused the error was fired, Fox News said that wasn’t the case, although it added that the issue is being taken seriously, the story reports.

2 Comments

  1. So what? A suicide shot from hundreds of feet in the air got on the air. It’s not like they showed the guy’s brains splattered on a backdrop! If people are offended by that then they need to keep their nose buried in NewsWeek magazine.

  2. “When they involve images that can be disturbing to young people or those in society who are unable to process such nightmares,”
    –you mean like ‘Fox & Friends?’

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