A tragic story from a month or so ago continues to reverberate as the news media fights with the victims family over video taken of the event. As much as I love the protections given to the media by our Constitution I'm not sure I'm on their side in this case.
The videos concern the death of Sea World trainer Dawn Brancheau by a killer whale named Tilikum. For reasons unknown the animal, which has been involved with at least a couple other human deaths, dragged the young woman into the pool during a public performance where she drowned. Cameras at the park recorded the entire performance including the trainer's death. The battle over the tapes began almost immediately.
The split on the question isn't particularly surprising. The media would like a look at the video. It was a news event and there is a record of it. On the other side is the Brancheau family who can not imagine anything worse than having the death of their family member replayed over and over and over. The legal question comes down to how Florida can deal with the issue since the videos are part of the investigation and therefore potentially part of the public record. The Florida Sunshine Law may require that they be released.
My question is why? Not from the legal point of view, a judge will decide that. Why do we need to see them? What possible benefit is there for society? There is a small protion of the population that enjoys watching death, there's even a name for it, death porn. It is a sick and twisted past time that does not require or deserve public support. There's a larger portion of the population that simply fall into the voyeur category, the kind of person who can't stop themselves from rubber necking at a car accident. I don't think we need to feed that tendency either. There is no legitimate news value in this tape. There is no benefit to society and a considerable potential cost. Let the police get the information that they need, let Sea World discover what they can to improve the safety of their parks for animal and human alike. Then destroy the video. History has more than adequately recorded tragic deaths like this for centuries without the benefit of having the ability for endless instant replays. Any desire to watch this young woman's death comes from the darkest recesses of the human soul. I don't believe the Constitutional protections were intended to protect our rights to diminish and demean ourselves and others.
The court will hear arguments on releasing the video April 5. My fervent hope is that the judge will agree or barring that that the media will have the good sense not use what comes into their hands. But I wouldn't lay money on that possibility.
Call that the View From the Phlipside.
"The View From the Phlipside" airs on WRFA-LP Jamestown NY. You can listen to WRFA online HERE
Copyright - Jay Phillippi 2010
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