Here’s Fox anchor Shepard Smith apologizing for his network’s airing of a man’s on-camera suicide moments earlier. Our analysis after the video:
Let’s see, we have admission of wrongdoing (“we really messed up”), naming of the sin in a way that shows understanding of the offense (“that didn’t belong on TV…it’s not time appropriate; it’s insensitive; it’s just wrong”), ownership (“I personally apologize to you that that happened…and that won’t happen again on my watch”) and concluding with apology rather than excuse (“I’m sorry”). Well done, Mr. Smith. The one caveat: Though you say there were safeguards in place, you don’t tell us how this made it through those safeguards. So how can we be assured it won’t happen again?
I appreciate the general value of not pointing a finger at someone else; it’s rare in public life for someone in a prominent position to take full ownership of a screwup. (Ari Fleisher, holla!) But in this case, Smith mentions that the footage was on a time delay, and the network could have chosen to cut the feed or cut away before the man pulled the trigger. I haven’t watched the original Fox footage, and will not link to it, but Entertainment Weekly reports that as it aired, Smith could be heard yelling at the control room: “Get it off! Get it off!” So someone (director? producer?) clearly chose the path of “easier to ask forgiveness than permission.” Which means the “won’t happen again on my watch” part of the apology must remain suspect.
Smith often seems to chafe at his role as the face of Fox News, which can make for compelling TV. In a discussion of the CIA’s treatment of prisoners, Smith suddenly slammed his hand on the desk and exploded, “We are America! We do not fucking torture! We don’t do it!” (No wonder Jon Stewart referred to him as “the black Shep of the Fox family.”)
Look, I wrote for women’s magazines for years. I understand not being entirely comfortable with the company you keep. But I’m not going to announce an end to Photoshopping, a distrust of consumerist culture and a sudden embrace of true body diversity. Shep should apologize for what he can control, but not promise to change what he clearly can’t.
