Fox Calls For Tape Delay ‘Drill’ After Suicide Aired Live On TV

After Fox News accidentally aired a suspected criminal’s suicide on-air last Friday during coverage of a car chase, TVNewser reports that the network has internally called for delay drills to make sure such a mistake never happens again.

According to a memo obtained by TVNewser, Fox EVP of News Michael Clemente wrote the network’s senior and executive producers:

“Tomorrow I’d like each of you, and the control room producers under you, to run through a brief drill of how the system works and when it should be used.”

He continued on to lament the unfortunate situation:

Mistakes happen. When they happen at Fox News, the rest of the media piles on — that’s what happens when you are a market leader.

When they involve images that can be disturbing to young people or those in society who are unable to process such nightmares, it’s even more important that we handle issues like this with full confidence that our systems will work.

In the aftermath of the incident, anchor Shepard Smith profusely apologized on air and Clemente released a statement blaming a “severe human error” for the footage.

[h/t TVNewser]

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