Should the entertainment media be sensitive/censoring when national tragedies happen?

In the wake of a national tragedy, do you think scripted television and movies should censor showing similar stories (or themes?) Like, say for instance, in the aftermath of the Sandy Hook shootings, radio stations stopped playing Kesha's song "Die Young," even though the song and its scenario had nothing to do with the situation.

i can understand the censorship out of respect for victims, and the possible heart wrench for the public.

but for how long is that censorship supposed to last? WWII vets had bad reactions to Saving Private Ryan... some people were affected by movies about 9/11. so how long are you supposed to be sensitive?

No. At the most they should just add disclaimers.

Marc wrote:No. At the most they should just add disclaimers.

^ On OLTL when Blair was flying to Mexico to deliver Jack, she was on a plane that experienced turbulence. After 9/11 though, ABC completely edited out those scenes, because they thought any plane trouble would be too much of a reminder of what happened. I always thought that was going a wee bit too far.

I think most media outlets are more likely to air ( ) on the side of caution so offended people don't write letters. I don't think it's a problem if a TV station decided not to run The Towering Inferno right after 9-11 but I don't know how long is long enough to wait.

I recall watching an E! True Hollywood Story on Dynasty many years ago. They talked about a story where terrorists crashed a wedding or something, then the narrator said something like how such scenes wouldn't air today because of the September 11 attacks. I suppose it depends on how close the plot is to whatever real life tragedy has just occurred and how on edge the nation is because of it. But IMO it should be strikingly similar in order for that kind of censorship to be enacted. Something just vaguely similar shouldn't matter.

Marc™ wrote:No. At the most they should just add disclaimers.

And I will further say that the media needs to stop its relentless coverage and sensationalism of tragedies like the this. It gives the nut baskets idea of infamy.