Where's The Line? Fox Shows Footage of Dead Supermodel

[ErinBerin84]

Where's The Line? Fox Shows Footage of Dead Supermodel

Huffington Post-

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/06/30/wheres-the-line-fox-shows_n_109892.html


Last night on "Geraldo At Large," Fox news showed footage of the body of model Ruslana Korshunova, 20, who had died Saturday in a fall from her 9th-floor window in Manhattan's Financial District, an apparent suicide.

The footage showed Korshunova lying partially uncovered on the street at the scene, her profile and upper body clearly visible in a long shot which seems to zoom in from the other side of a police vehicle behind yellow crime-scene tape (see below).

The shot, labeled 'EXCLUSIVE' in the upper left-hand corner, was a long one, shown in fullscreen and then again in half-screen as Gerlado Rivera talked to his guests. The later showing was interspersed with B-roll of Korshunova walking on the runway and in glamour shots.

There are no hard and fast rules about showing dead bodies on TV. Generally, it is a custom dictated by taste and a news imperative; certainly showing a body under a sheet gets the point across. When it is done, it is considered noteworthy — for example, the coverage of dead bodies in New Orleans during Katrina, in Myanmar last month following the cyclone disaster; showing images of the Saddam Hussein execution, before, during and after. For newspapers, the same caution applies — even this year, on the fifth anniversary of the Iraq war, it was notable that New York Times ran a photo of dead Iraqi soldier on the front page. Generally, news organizations avoid running photos with identifiable faces.

There are rules about some things, of course — the Pentagon prohibits photographing of the flag-draped coffins of fallen soldiers, and takes great pains to keep them hidden from view. But, though Fox has certainly seemed to honor that policy (and reacting with great outrage if offending images are ever shown), in this instance, the editorial discretion is their own.

So: Is this really as gratuitous and exploitative as it seems? A long shot of Korshunova's dead body does not show the scope of a natural disaster or the ravages of the battlefield, nor does it show proof from a corrupt regime that a tyrant is dead. It does, however, cater to a certain ghoulish curiosity. Is Korshunova's death news? Of course — but it doesn't need to be so graphically illustrated. A sustained shot of Korshunova's face, her face pale in death, clearly visible in profile with what appears to be blood at the side of her mouth — that adds nothing to the story other than a horrific, shocking image to gawk at.

[babylonsister]

1. Yes, it IS as gratuitous and exploitative as it seems; they have no

standards.

[GreenPartyVoter]

8. Dead supermodel = A-ok, Dead soldiers and Iraqis = top secret

[Jim__]

2. "... it is a custom dictated by taste ..."

Clearly, the question does not apply to fox.

[ErinBerin84]

3. Yup

I remember my sister and I watching an episode of Lost in which the storyline had a "news report", and cameras showed a bloated dead body underwater. I said "Ok, what news program would show a bloated dead body?" and my sister and I both answered at the same time "Must be Fox."

[dipsydoodle]

4. Pentagon prohibits photographing of the flag-draped coffins of fallen soldiers

Wholly different motives - they need to move attention away from the number of troop deaths. That doesn't apply in the UK.

Aside from that , yes , showing the body of the lifeless youngster was in extreme bad taste and completely thoughless.

[Blue_Tires]

5. well a lot of people cheered when Saddam's dead sons

were on all the front pages...the line was crossed a long time ago

[charlie]

6. Used to be

you had to buy a National Enquirer for the cheap, tawdry, and banal. They were the ones willing to pay a few shekels under the table for access to "news".

Now, we have Fox. And it's free! The only cost is the rightwing agitprop it comes wrapped in. Yay for us and Gawd bless Free Market Magic!

[LTR]

7. I saw that last night!

Happened to be channel-surfing and, for some odd reason, landed on FAUX News. I happened to catch the segment on the model suicide, and was rather shocked that they ACTUALLY SHOWED THE FUCKING BODY!!! I could not believe it - she was shown in a view aimed underneath a truck, laying on her back with blood trickling from her mouth.! I kept watching because I just could not believe it. Then again, I remembered that this is Geraldo, so I guess that wasn't too surprising.

Is there really no shame anymore?