It has long been said Albuquerque's Balloon Fiesta is the most photographed event in the world. And when tragedy happens at the Fiesta it's inevitable it will be documented by numerous witnesses.
After watching the newscasts of other stations, it was obvious every newsroom had its share of amateur footage/images sent in by their viewers.
One of our viewers came into our newsroom with his small,palm-sized digital camera. Eric Sanchez, who going to the Fiesta for his birthday manged to record the most tragic moment of Friday's fatal crash--the pilot falling to his death from the fiery gondola,
I saw that footage in its raw form. Although the video was quite blurred and pixilated, it was disturbing to see the footage. Seeing the footage put a heavy pause in my rush of a deadline race. Seeing a man's final moments on earth end so tragically was quite simply, for lack of a better descriptive word...sad.
We made the good decision not to air that piece of the raw video tape, for obvious reasons. From what I understand, other news outlets also cut out that moment.
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jeremyjojola.com
1 comments:
Seeing images of someone falling to their death might prevent countless others from engaging in such a foolhardy sport, which appears (because of the way "news" is washed clean of reality) to be nothing but a great fun outdoor pleasure without any real danger. Our sanitized over managed news coverage, where only the people at the station get to see the "raw footage," creates a false atmosphere of safety for so-called sports which have risks well disguised by their commerical promoters. Our "news" outlets have made a tradition of just showing us glamorized views of dare-devil, life altering and physically destructive activities like motorcycle riding, bungee jumping, ballooning, sky-diving and so many others. But, when a scene is available which would shock viewers into a truthful understanding of what participation in these "sports" could entail, those revelations are clipped right out as being too "sensitive" for the gentle eyes of the viewing public.
The news should be courageous enough to expose the fallacies of the safety and reveal the risks involved in participation in activities which can kill or permanently maim.
A visit to an emergency room where people are being brought in from a tragic circumstance (like the victims of a spinal cord paralyzing motorcycle accident, from a casual Sunday ride while wearing helmets) brought on by risky behavior (promoted by the media to appear as merely good wholesome fun), will cause you to wonder, why "they don't show these kind of shocking scenes" on the television, so the rest of the world can know the true dangers. Instead, anything which could teach and reveal the truth is wiped away so people aren't appalled at the dinner table
The news should show the kinds of consequential horrors which can be shocking enough to save lives and prevent foolish choices.
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