Television news networks showed their viewers a bizarre spectacle Friday afternoon: a tour of the San Bernardino, California, shooting suspects’ apartment. Was this responsible? Allowed? Good for the world? Airing coverage live when there might be, say, Social Security numbers and other personal information of family members on display makes me think no, maybe, and doubtful, in that order. But the landlord to Tashfeen Malik and Syed Farook opened up the apartment, and so camera crews rushed in.
MSNBC got in on the action first. What’s that, a pink stuffed animal of some sort? Big catch.
Eventually more networks, including CNN, got into the mix. Here they are, doing whatever they want, at the scene of an investigation. (We’ve made sure the following clip does not contain any personal information.)
Turns out the apartment featured other toys. Hmm.
They were Muslims … and had a Quran?!?
Why not just blast a lot of very private information of someone or another onto live television?
Andrea Mitchell was talking to Sen. Lindsey Graham during the breaking news. Graham was … confused.
It’s unclear how authorities feel about the TV news stampede.
Update, 3:45 p.m.: A CNN spokesperson emailed the following statement:
CNN, like many other news organizations, was granted access to the home by the landlord. We made a conscious editorial decision not to show close-up footage of any material that could be considered sensitive or identifiable, such as photos or ID cards.
