I generally do not post more than once a day, but I saw something on the news today that offended me and I wanted to see what you all think of it. In London today there was an extremely violent murder of a British soldier. CNN decided that it would be appropriate to show a video of the murderer talking to the camera about why he killed this guy--with the dead soldier in the background!!!
First, I understand that the news doesn't get rated under the television content rating system, but if this were a movie, it would be PG-13. There is a bloody-handed murderer confessing to the murder to the camera while holding a knife and a meat cleaver. If you just have the news on in your house and your kids come home from school and see that, is that okay? I am a very sensitive person and was incredibly horrified to see that they were showing a dead soldier on camera over and over again.
Next, what if that British soldier was your brother or husband or son? I really think it would be even more traumatic than already having that person in your family murdered. If that were my relative, I would absolutely not want his dead body being shown all over international television. It's so insensitive!
So, what do you think?
What do I think? I think that we need to have our fingers firmly planted on the OFF button on our remotes. My youngest daughter is 17 and in college. I was watching the same report on another network. When I heard her open the door, I just shut the TV off. I've been doing this all through my childrens' growing up years. I NEVER left the TV on without monitoring what was on (especially on a news channel)while my children were home.(I had the luxury of being a stay-at-home MOM) You're right, they absorb everything. Regardless of what it is, parents need to parent. Having government controls or censoring by some bureaucrat is not the answer. Perhaps appealing to companies to monitor themselves re: commercials you were describing above. Look what's happened to CNN lately--their ratings are in the tank. Perhaps this is a wakeup call for them. Maybe they will change the way they report the news. It's especially easy to contact networks, local channels and companies that have ads on TV now with email, calls, and comments on their websites. Let them know how you feel! :)
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