Broadcasters Warned On “Shock Value” News

Michael Hedges July 12, 2012 - Follow on Twitter

Recordings of communication between police and a murder suspect that found their way to a television news program raised questions about news value and ethics. Authorities want to know how the recordings, graphically revealing police negotiations with a deranged killer, left their control. Mirroring the outrage of victim’s families, the media regulator asked if rules were broken.

The Sunday night news magazine Sept à huit (Seven to eight) on French channel TF1 broadcast (July 8) excerpts of contacts between police negotiators and Mohamed Merah, suspected killer of seven people in three gun attacks. After a two-week manhunt police identified Merah as a sympathizer of Islamic terrorists and located him in a Toulouse apartment. A standoff, which was broadcast live on French television, lasted more than 30 hours during which the extremely well-armed Merah said he “was ready for all the tactics negotiators would try.” In the end, tactical police stormed the apartment. Firing a weapon as he jumped through a window Merah was shot dead by police. French counter-terrorism authorities were roundly criticized for lax surveillance of Merah, who had been off and on their radar for several years.

Following the broadcast media regulator CSA president Michel Boyon, saying he was “deeply shocked,” remonstrated broadcasters from rebroadcasting the material, announced an investigation and called TF1 officials to a meeting. “It is not acceptable that we mock the family’s pain or be disrespectful of people who were injured,” he said to Europe 1 (July 9). “Put yourself in the place of the families.”

TF1 news director Catherine Nayl defended the broadcast as “perfectly legitimate” as it contained “very important information.”  The recording had “strong news value,” said program producer Emmanuel Chain. “We learn how Merah trained with Al-Qaeda, his determination,” he said, quoted by France 24. “We learn a lot of things, it has been very much put in context.”

Interior Minister Manuel Valls, quoted by AFP (July 9), said he’d “go all the way” to find the leakers with suspicion the recordings came from police sources. When police internal investigations (Inspection générale de la police nationale - IGPN) officers visited Elephant & Cie, the production company for Sept à huit, looking for the original recordings they left unsatisfied and said the production company “refused” to turn over the tapes. “The material that they asked us for no longer exists,” said a production company spokesperson. “But we gave a copy to police.”

TF1 CEO Nonce Paolini, news director Nayl and representatives of BFMTV and I-Télé, news channels that rebroadcast excerpts from the TF1 program, appeared Tuesday morning (July 10) before CSA ethics committee chairman Rachid Arhab. CSA rules (Article 15) forbid “shock value” news content. The “news value” argument seems to have succeeded as the broadcasters received only a “warning”, less than a “formal notice” that might have resulted in a stiff fine.

“This decision is a signal,” said M. Boyon to a press conference following the meeting. “This is a call to responsibility to all operators.” He also explained that the meeting with the television people was not a demand but, rather, a “request for an explanation.”

“The CSA is not the place where we judge the news value of a story, said M. Arhab at the same press conference, quoted by Libération (July 10) “Our mission is to enforce the network’s obligations, particularly with regard to the protection of viewers.”

It’s true; sometimes material of high news value – in most definitions – can be shocking. Reputable editors and journalists grapple daily with decisions about broadcasting or publishing horrific images. Global news channel CNN broadcast (July 8) gruesome amateur video of a Taliban gunman shooting dead a young woman in Afghanistan as men watching cheered. It was uncomfortable watching.

Paris-based press freedom watcher Reporters sans Frontiers (RSF) condemned (July 10) the “disproportionate and punitive response” of French authorities as “a threat to the principle of protecting sources.”

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