Shooting During a Live News Segment Raises Questions About Ethics in the Media

About 80 people a day are killed by guns in America, but today in Roanoke, Virginia, it happened on live television.

By Rhonda FanningAugust 26, 2015 11:25 am,

The governor of Virginia, Terry McAuliffe, confirmed that the suspect was a disgruntled employee, Vester Lee Flanagan II.

Reporter Alison Parker and camera man Adam Ward were killed.

The news coverage and social media attention to this story has been overwhelming.

This raises the question: Is this the media’s reaction to two of their own being murdered while doing their job? Tragedies like this certainly get our attention. Sandy Hook, Auroa Colorado… we could go on, but the fact that this one was caught on live TV might change the narrative. The video is getting replayed over and over again on some news stations, Twitter, and Youtube. CNN has made a statement that it will only air it once an hour, and always with a disclaimer.  The victim’s local CBS affiliate station have said they will not air the video. So what does this say about the ethics of journalism?

Wanda Garner Cash, associate director of the School of Journalism at the University of Texas Austin, joins the Standard.