As I watched the news coverage of the Columbia disaster, I managed to hear 2 prank calls by Howard Stern’s fans. The first one came into MSNBC by someone who claimed “they shot down the space shuttle because Howard Stern was onboard.”
The second prank call came into CBS News with Dan Rather anchoring the coverage. The caller claimed to have debris from the space shuttle. He said “it looks like one of Baba Booey’s teeth.” Dan continued to ask the caller questions apparently oblivious to what was happening. Before they cut the caller off, he called Dan an idiot.
It was then that Dan’s co-anchor, Russ Mitchell, informed him it was a prank call. Dan then said “Well, I am an idiot, but that’s beside the point.”
My initual reaction to this was surprise that a prank caller was able to get through to a big television network and that it was broadcasted live. My secondary reaction was disgust that someone would be making light of an immediate tragedy.
Who’s to blame in all this? Stern’s fans? The networks themselves for not verifying callers? Probably both.
Howard Stern is there to offend. He’s there to push buttons. If I get offended, then he’s served his self-described purpose.
Then again, the networks need to check out these things. Or at least go to a short delay so they do not broadcast something they shouldn’t have. MSNBC went to a 7 second delay during the Miami postal truck hijack.
News Anchors made the difference during the Columbia Disaster.