Georgian Luger Killed: Is it ethical to broadcast the crash?

Ringer, you remember incorrectly.

Swede Savage, Ronnie Peterson, Jovy Marcelo, Gordon Smiley, Scott Brayton. Five race drivers who were killed in races, qualifying or practice broadcast on tape in the U.S. All shown, most with replays.

And that's just open wheel.

 

That's a good rule.

And I have the same question as 93Devil ... would it be wrong to show this on the 6 p.m. but it's OK after 10? I think I remember that 6 p.m. news in my childhood was relatively conservative. I could be completely wrong though.

 

But he wasn't an American athlete. I'd imagine in Georgia this is getting a little bit different coverage than it's getting here, and if the situations were reversed (American athlete, news coverage in Georgia) I imagine things would be pretty drastically different both there and here.

I understand the sentiment of the "what about his family" comments, but as vast as NBC's audience is, his loved ones aren't among them.

And lawsuit about what? You can argue for poor taste, but what did NBC do that could possibly be considered actionable?

 

Agreed re: padding. As Brian Williams mentioned in his report at the start of the Opening Ceremony telecast, dude was going in the high 80s when he lost it. I don't think there's any amount of padding that could have saved him.

 

The still photos were legitimately graphic.

I wouldn't classify the video as such.

 

It's not a question of ethics anyway.

Taste, perhaps.

 

I've always been very sensitive to the fact that sometimes we (the media) care too little about the ramifications for family members during such moments.

However, still photo or video, I had a much better understanding of the danger of the track and the stupidity of its designers after seeing the video.

There is no way in hell the event should be held until they go over every inch of that course and make it as safe as possible. Yes, I know it's a dangerous sport. But the designers/race officials were alseep at the switch on this one.

Run that video over and over for them and ask them if the course is safe for the competitors.

 

I don't have a problem with showing the video.

News sometimes isn't pretty.

 

IOC says the athlete didn't compensate for the turn:

http://vancouver2010.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/02/13/officials-say-athlete-not-track-caused-crash/

 

I interviewed both United States lugers and team officials regarding the Whistler track for a pre-Olympics feature -- including Tony Benshoof, who has crashed there prior to the Olympics and apparently in training yesterday. All agreed that while the Whistler track is the fastest course in the world, with projected speeds over 100 mph, it's also very safe. There have been numerous crashes in training and during a World Cup stop there this year, but everyone has walked away... until yesterday. :-\

I have not seen the broadcast. I intend to watch it, if only to try to understand what happened and why. Rest in peace, Nodar Kumaritashvili.

 

This is not going over well in the comments section, nor should it. For the IOC to come out and publicly say it was the athlete's fault -- even if true -- is in very poor taste. As they say, "too soon."