If there’s anything that has come to define the state of modern mainstream news gathering it’s tabloid TV. And many argue that it all started with that slow procession of the white Bronco down LA’s freeways. That broadcast bacchanalia, though, had the distinction of involving a prominent individual involved in a lurid murder that commanded national interest. But the Phoenix area car chase aired yesterday by Fox was a local incident of no particular import. Satellite technology let Fox tap into their KSAZ local affiliate’s feed and they did it because they could. It allowed them to fill a little air time. And they got burned. Despite what Shepard Smith says was a five second delay, they couldn’t (or wouldn’t) cut the feed until the runner had ended the chase with a gun to his temple and a partial cephalic evacuation. Cue the waves of media hand-wringing and navel gazing, but the fact is, if it had been a CNN or NBC affiliate feed, it would be CNN or MSNBC on the hook now. This was inevitable. Suicide footage after the jump, if you care to watch. While you’ve surely seen worse in just about any recent war movie, remember that you can’t un-see it. Just sayin’.
