Fox Faces Moral Dilemma Today
Reported by Donna - June 27, 2005
In watching a segment on the BTK killer on Studio B, Shepard Smith spoke with Criminal Profiler, Pat Brown, regarding the BTK's confessions today.
Ms. Brown said that what is awful is this man is a psychopath and we will never know if he's telling some truth, all truth, or just completely making up the closing moments of the victim's lives. She went on to say that by letting him speak in court today, he was actually still torturing -- this time the families that were affected.
This is the point where Smith told Ms. Brown about Fox's moral dilemma.
Smith said, "You know, Pat, we wrestled over this, a decision to put something like this from a courtroom is not reached 'lightly' in a place like this.
And, our thinking was, that, if nothing else, we get some degree of finality from this. We get some degree, maybe, of an insight into what was going on from the other side of that evil."
Comment: Fox 'wrestled' with this idea? For how long? Earlier, I blazed through the channels and found all three (CNN, Fox and MSNBC) covering the BTK's confessions. I don't think this was a case of a 'moral dilemma', rather, a case of a 'ratings war'.
On top of that, everyone knows the sleaze factor on Fox is much higher than what is shown on CNN or MSNBC. How many times does O'Reilly or Cavuto have to do stories on 'suggestive cheerleading' or 'porn stars'?
I don't think they 'wrestled' with this decision very long. And what did Smith mean by 'a place like this'? The 'moral majority' Fox Noise Channel? Where 'fluff' and 'sensationalism' are the story of the day?
