Fox News Channel’s EVP of News Michael Clemente instituted a 5-second delay drill yesterday to ensure what happened Friday doesn’t happen again.
Friday afternoon Fox News was carrying a car chase which ended when the suspect shot himself. The suicide was broadcast live on FNC.
On Sunday, Clemente wrote a memo, obtained by TVNewser, to 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.” Clemente continued:
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.
After Friday’s incident Clemente said “severe human error” was to blame.
There were rumors yesterday that whoever was to blame was terminated. But we checked with Fox News and they say that’s not the case. A Fox News source tells us the matter is being handled internally and is being taken very seriously.