Editorial

Sinking to new lows

British TV viewers recently were exposed to a televised suicide. Some viewers were outraged. In 1998, "60 Minutes" aired an euthanasia assisted by Dr. Jack Kevorkian. Various groups have proposed broadcasting an execution by lethal injection, a gruesome procedure that has been portrayed many times in the scripts of make-believe TV shows and movies.

Is this what we want on TV? Television programming has become a race to see which show can provide the most shock value. Dialogue and sexual references have become raw. Producers say this is what their audiences want. Is it possible audiences watch because they tend to have the TV on no matter what's being shown?

Producers of TV programming have a responsibility to do better. And networks and cable channels should bear in mind that audiences are too frequently exposed to sights and sounds they would not choose to see.

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