As some of you know, a SeaWorld trainer was killed recently when she was pulled underwater into a whale tank by a whale that had a past history of violence. With the other trainers unable to save her, Dawn Brancheau was thrashed around until she drowned. Since many spectators observed this shocking event (it took place during a live show), it is surprising that no horrific stringer footage surfaced on YouTube, as footage usually does when something shocking and outrageous occurs. SeaWorld does have two surveillance cameras that captured parts of her death, one on top a tall tower overlooking the tank deck, and another underwater camera. Now with the help of SeaWorld, Dawn Brancheau’s family will be one step closer to preventing the release of that footage.
It is known that people were and still are curious to see how this awful event happened, as they usually are when a bizarre and/or public death occurs (similar to how Marissa blogged about the Olympic luger’s death footage). I wonder why people feel the actual NEED to see footage of one’s death, especially if it can be effectively described in another, less graphic way. The family of the late trainer does not want the public to be able to see the footage of their loved one’s death become a exploited commodity, so now with the help of SeaWorld’s lawyers and money they will hopefully be one step closer to securing that privacy. They also argue that the footage does not provide any other helpful evidence as to why this happened or what can be done, because of what the footage did not capture.
"The underwater view does not show Mrs. Brancheau until after she had entered the water. The overhead camera was not aimed at the scene until after the incident had begun," the complaint states.
"Significantly neither camera shows what occurred in the moments prior to and including Mrs. Brancheau being pulled into the water and offer no insight into the cause of this tragic event."
Although the family has valid points regarding the video's lack of evidential ability, the Brancheau family and SeaWorld are fighting against First Amendment Rights and Florida Access Laws. According to the Freedom of Information Act, law enforcement files are public property in Florida. Since the footage was released to Florida police to investigate this case, media has a strong argument as to why they should have access to the footage, now that the case is closed.
If mainstream media gets hold of the footage, do you think they’ll show it? Or do you think they’ll respect the family’s wishes of not showing this unfortunate event? Do you think SeaWorld and the Brancheau family should have the rights to the footage or should the media have full access and decide for themselves if they’ll air it?
UPDATE April, 2010:
Footage was aired on CBC. Now easily accessible on YouTube.
Thanks for linking to my blog on this article. I find this issue very significant and closely related to the luger's death at the 2010 Olympics. I have also been curious as to if a video would surface on the internet about how the trainer died and now, because of your blog post, I understand why.
ReplyDeleteI think if the mainstream media gets a hold of the footage, they will show it. Especially after what had happened with the luger's death,they held no concern for the family in that situation so I can't see them being too sympathetic in this case either. It is extremely pessimistic but I believe they would show the video for ratings.
In that sense, I don't believe that the media should have full access to it. I think the video should belong to the Brancheau family and SeaWorld and they can decide what they want to do with it.
This is the first time I have been able to search this incident and find CBS has put the footage on YouTube. It isn't glorified in any way I don't believe, but it's still awful going against the family's wishes.
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