Opinionator #1

The NBC Nightly News was absentmindedly on in the background on the evening of Thursday October 20^th as I worked at my computer when I heard the all-too-brief warning from anchor Brian Williams that video footage that was about to be displayed was graphic and violent. Like a passerby to a car wreck I automatically turned to the TV screen, the warning serving more as an invitation for my attention than as a deterrent.

Despite my personal disdain for long-time Lybian dictator Gaddafi, I was disgusted by the brutality of his death caught on cell phone video that was displayed. I’m sure my facial expression may have mirrored that of Hillary Clinton when she saw the video footage on her Blackberry. Moreover and more significantly, I was horrified at the fact that the event was being displayed at 5:30 in the evening on primary network national news, a time when parents of young children often have the evening news on as they cook and eat dinner with family. The brief proceeding warning would have been have insufficient to avert and protect young eyes.

Isn’t footage such as Gaddafi’s death the ‘stuff’ of cable news, not mainstream network news? David McCormick, NBC News vice president for standards, said in the network’s defense, "We want to give our audience the most accurate reports possible without crossing a line into offensive or unnecessarily graphic material. We feel the footage that has aired has met those boundaries, and we're constantly in touch with producers about what is and is not acceptable."( http://news.yahoo.com/graphic-pictures-mark-coverage-gadhafi-death-222122899.html.) I suspect that NBC just didn’t want to be “trumped” by other networks, particularly the increasingly popular cable news programs.

Whether within the bounds of mandatory censorship rules and standards, networks need to take into account their viewership audience and its expectations. Viewers of the major network news do not expect “provocative” and “gritty” reports; for that we turn to cable stations, internet news and blogs.

Message to Brian Williams: it was not your domain.