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The crash that claimed the life of Georgian luger Nodar Kumaritashvili prior to the opening of the Vancouver Winter Olympics was aired on national TV. Do you think it should have been?

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No, it shouldn't have....

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Dear mod, please clarify. Do you mean that it was broadcast of Japanese "national television" or are you referring to another country?

Moderator: Any coverage.

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I haven't seen it but the description was enough for me. So I believe it shouldn't have been shown. A graphic like the one they used to illustrate the girl who fell from the platform would have been better if they wanted to show it.

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They never should have aired it out of respect for his family. And whomever was stupid enough to design a track with exposed metal girders needs to be dealing with a LAWSUIT.

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"I heard that NBC aired it repeatedly"

You heard wrong ! NBC started their sports coverage with a brief overview and then let the national news team take over with more details, first with a short video- up to the crash- then still photos. They then switched back to the sports news where they then showed the whole tape, in slow motion with no sound. The actual AP wire video is on youtube- full speed with sound.

NBC showed this video once. The next day the told viewers that they would continue to cover the story but would not show the video again. My thoughts are that during the switch over to the national news team, NBC was still undecided about showing the whole video- cause it would have made sense to show it from the national news perspective- more professional. But when they returned to the sports/olympic coverage they somewhat hastily threw it out to the audience- which proceeded to light up their switchboards in protest. Afterall, this is the Olympics- a family viewing event. I too was extremely surprised that NBC showed the accident- this was primetime in my part of the US. Seemed to be a violation of the primetime viewing codes enacted by industry watchdogs.

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I wonder how CNN covered this story? They sure showed the earthquake in Haiti as it was and if a dead baby laying in the corner is not graphic, then what is? If these images portray the help that was needed, then it may be justified. I missed this replay and I guess that is the choice I would have had if I had known it was be replayed but decided not to look.

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If people didn't want to see it then they wouldn't show it, if it bleeds it leads. I like Larry Flint's argument, if you don't like it, don't read it, or rather watch it.

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It wasn't on NHK when I saw it; what national media are you referring to?

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Deaths in Olympic events are rare (is this the first?), so television editors didn't have a frame of reference to work from. If someone was decapitated, they'd would (and should) cut away right away, because the death would be obvious. This death was less obvious.

Rebroadcasts of a crash, after it becomes clear that an athlete died, are in poor taste.

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Well, if the crash occurred during a live broadcast, which it most certainly did all over the world, then I think it's pointless to argue about whether it was appropriate or not. It was live and things happen, good or bad, during live feeds.

But it's what media outlets do after the seriousness of an event becomes clear that I think people take issue with. As many other posters have said, staying up close with the cameras trained on emergency lifesaving procedures while the man was dying was unnecessary and didn't lend anything more to understanding the tragedy than what we could've learned from an explanation later. Graphic images are unnecessary.

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I heard that NBC aired it repeatedly and that gruesome pictures of it were on the Huffington Post website. I'm so glad that NHK stopped short of showing the gruesome parts. When watching the news, all I saw was when he lost control, then started flying in the air. Then the screen went blank.

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Death on the screen is common, for many daily fare in all these TV serials. Apparently the media no longer know where to draw the line. I am appalled at the total lack of respect in the way this accident was reported. And this in an age when there is all this talk and action about protecting people's privacy. Where was the privacy of this poor fellow and his loved ones?

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I don't know which "national" TV you're referring to, but it is a sad fact that Japanese TV, including NHK, have no qualms about broadcasting scenes of dead, dying and maimed people, as long as they are not Japanese nationals.

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It was shocking, but it wasn't gruesome. We could have done without the cpr close-ups and the blood coming out of the poor young man's mouth, but there was a brewing controversy over whether the track was built to be too fast. Personally, I don't want corporate news employees deciding what's appropriate for me: Show the video, but give ample warning to those who would be upset that shocking footage is about to air.

stirfry and TokyoXtreme... I believe you have old and new media confused. If the old media censors or selectively edits something for whatever reason, it's the new media (youtube, liveleak, any number of blogs) that rushes in to fill the gap and show the uncensored footage.

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Obviously the reason for airing it must justify the airing. Here is the line which is abused by most broadcasters today. In viewing the video I have come to the conclusion the track was lacking. I believe the video being aired for that purpose has immense value as would Nodar.

Just before his final impact the video could be shown for the public but examine within yourselves why.

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That's why it's "old media", and that's why it's disappearing; voyeuristic death isn't the turn-on that dinosaur journalists always assumed it was.

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the old media saying applies here unfortunately: "if it bleeds, it leads"

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Just looked at pictures for the first time. What idiot put columns that close to the track??

Did they really show him dying on live TV? Jeez, talk about bad taste. Even the WWE cut from live feed when someone died in the ring...

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Guest: Do you not see a difference (in sports) between the "agony of defeat", and "dying" ?

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Its all about the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat. These people don't practice their sport alone in solitary conditions, they do so on the world stage. RIP hero.

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Hawkeye -- agree. Seeing him lying on the ground with an oxygen mask on, and blood coming from his mouth, is not reporting, but sensationalist/shock journalism. I think the TV networks should draw the line at reporting. If someone wants to see the gore, they can go to countless web sites and see it.

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No. The Olympic media center should have put together an animated representation of the mishap and that should have sufficed.

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Shocked you would ask this.

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I must admit that I have been a live witness to a number of horrific incidents over the years, everything from car accidents to combat-related deaths. That being said, however, I have always felt a sense of revulsion when witnessing "news stories" on TV that feature some poor person dying in front of the camera, whether it is a sports-accident or a lynching. I also find the faux concern of talking heads on TV to be really irritating.

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"Do you think it should have been?"...which one? the crash or the airing it on national TV?

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When you say "national TV", which nation are you referring to?

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Agree with Hawkeye ↑ Pushing the limits of publication results in desensitizing which can be a bad thing... but too late to say that in this day and age I guess.

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Photographers, videographers and film makers record graphic moments and sometimes they go too far. I think that the video of him leaving the slide and taking off into the air was all we needed to see. The part when he hit the pole and photographs of the CPR being given to him went beyond what I would call appropriate standards but bad news sells papers, not good news and the networks will always go to the limits for more readership/viewership.

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