Media mishandles death of Georgian luger

Almost two weeks have passed since 21-year-old Nodar Kumaritashvili, an Olympic athlete from the Republic of Georgia, lost control of his sled and died after crashing into an unpadded steel pole. The accident occurred during a practice run the morning of the opening ceremonies, causing a somber atmosphere to affect athletes, officials and fans around the world.
 Many questions have been raised regarding the athlete's death. The Vancouver track on which he died is considered one of the fastest in the world. Athletes reach speeds of over 90 mph. This has led some to blame the course itself for the promising youth's death.
According to David Epstein of Sports Illustrated, the course "just keeps on dropping, so there's really kind of no break from gathering speed toward the end." Kumaritashvili was traveling near 88 mph at the time of his crash.
All things considered, the media did a poor job handling this tragic death, crossing a line with their vivid reporting. News of the death could have been presented without the media continually showing the video of Kumaritashvili crashing ino a steel pole, despite the pleas of his family.
"It's news so it's their responsibility to report," sophomore Scott Morgan said. "They cross the line in actually showing that footage. They could have screened it."
In this case, Olympic footage was screened and edited in such a way that viewers were bombarded with horrific images of a young man losing his life.
 Kumaritashvili was on one of the final turns of the course. His body was slung out of the sled. His two legs straddled a metal pole as his head smashed against the hard steel. Within seconds, he lay dead.
Anybody can form a complete image of the athlete's gruesome demise upon hearing these words. But, the media decided that words weren't enough. Instead, they took the opportunity to broadcast the video footage over and over again. The media took what should have been private and turned it into "breakfast entertainment."
 The extent to which Kumaritashvili's death was broadcasted is a complete and utter overstep by the media done in an awful form that can only be described as disrespectful to Kumaritashvili's family and fans.
"It wasn't appropriate to show him getting CPR. Especially because children watch it, it was just way too graphic," senior Jessica Eustice said. The Olympics are a showcase of the best athletes in the world, athletes who are heroes to millions and millions of children. For a child to witness the death of his hero is wrong on many levels.
 Kumaritashvili's father released a statement that he has not viewed the video footage of his son's crash and has no plans to do so. Interestingly, when the Associated Press received information on the death of the athlete they were not given a name because the family of the athlete had not been informed. Imagine the families of every luger who sat petrified wondering if it was indeed their son who was now dead. The media exploded the boy's death before even giving news to his family.
"Journalists must balance the public's right to know against the need to be sensitive to the family's right to privacy, particularly given the graphic nature of the footage," said Dr. Sarah Burke-Odland, a media studies instructor.
In this case there seems to be very little balance between that responsibility to the public and a sense of sensitivity to Kumaritashvili's family. Not a single detail, or image, of the death was kept private.
Some argue that without the extreme coverage of the death, nothing would be done to improve the safety of the course. Yet it's hard to believe that the death alone wouldn't create enough concern. The family should have had a say in the brodcasting of their son's death. Instead, they were forced to turn their heads away from their television set to avoid reliving the horrific death of their son.
 The media turned a real tragedy into prime time drama. That is not only irresponsible, but totally unacceptable.