As we watched the initial reports from the Olympic Games in Vancouver tonight, my husband and I were shocked to see video of Nodar Kumaritashvili, the Georgian luger, who died in an accident during a practice run.
Not only did NBC show the crash in which Kumaritashvili flew off the track and hit his head on a concrete or steel beam supporting the luge course, they showed the footage repeatedly and in slow motion.
There are times in journalism when there is a fine line between how much of a gruesome story should be revealed to the public. We don't report the names of criminal suspects under 18 years old, in most cases, and we don't reveal the names of victims of sexual assault.
And we try to keep the blood and gore to a minimum. There's a difference between showing victims of the earthquake in Haiti walking around with bloodied heads after crawling from the rubble of their homes and showing the bloodied lifeless victims of drive-by shootings lying in the street or bodies covered by sheets on the side of the road after major car crashes.
There is a pretty distinct line, I think, and NBC crossed it when they showed Kumaritashvili being thrown from the luge track and careening headfirst into the solid column. The footage included the scene that followed when medics rushed to the athlete's side and attempted to revive him while he had blood covering his face.
In the telling of the story, I don't think it was necessary to show the world the gory details of this man's last moments. It's traumatic for his family, who are forced to relive his tragic end over and over with sports replay commentary, and troubling for parents sharing the excitement of the Olympic Games with their children.
In deciding what video was appropriate to air about this terrible tragedy that will no doubt hang over the Olympics this year and be replayed repeatedly, NBC made a bad call.
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