News Sites Making Money From Shuttle Tragedy

self

[ChemistCat]

I am just disgusted that the major news sites are all SELLING access to the video from the last few minutes of life of Columbia's astronauts. That footage doesn't belong to them; it belongs to all of us who care and grieve for the loss of a national asset and its crew. We paid for the shuttle, we paid for the camera the astronauts took up with them...and we paid for the technology that restored the tape to viewability. It's taxpayer property. I think what they're doing is worse than putting shuttle memorabilia up on Ebay. It stinks to high heaven.

They're using this accident, as they use everything, to try to sell their premium services. It's a Salon technique, and we see what that got Salon.

I know that news sites have to be funded somehow, but I don't believe they ought to be selling us what is ours already. Maybe I'm being stupid about this.

If they offered a product that was worth paying for--that stood out from the rest of the news services--then they wouldn't find funding such a problem. The problem is that they have all decided to embrace a mediocre standard of news presentation. It's all dumbed-down, and crucial details and balance are uniformly removed. Yet they still have the best access--almost exclusive-- to our government...do you think Free Republic could get NASA to hand over a copy of the tape to put online? Could Jim Robinson go to ask the President questions at a Press Conference on behalf of FR? Fat chance. The Mainstream Media has its access and guards it jealously.

Just growsing. I do believe in the right of private entities (I mean CNN, ABC, FOX, etc.) to make such decisions on their own without government interference. I don't have to like what they decide to do, however. Go back to your surfing.

[dep]

i don't know what's being charged, but there are certainly bandwidth costs to consider.

dep

[John H K]

The networks didn't pay anything for the tape.

It's the bandwidth. Websites have found it's tough to offer video over the internet for free when there's a possible audience of millions.

Your subscription pays for all the expensive equipment to get that video to you, not the video itself.

[FreedomCalls]

http://www.cspan.org/videoarchives.asp?Cat=&Code=

[FreedomCalls]

http://www.msnbc.com/news/867336.asp?vts=030120031735

[FreedomCalls]

http://www.nasa.gov/columbia/

[rs79bm]

The very nature of the News business is making money off of tragedy. Columbia is just one example.