Re: Jackass,Viacom&CBS

["Bill O'Neill" <billo@shoreham.net>]

> Should broadcasters be held legally liable because someone imitates
> something they see on TV?

If a local radio station mockingly incites high schoolers to trash
their school and it happens, wouldn't a report of the violence be
lacking if the antecedent were ignored?  I think so.  If you reduce
these global, national, cultural themes down to the most local
essence, then it's easier to do the math.  It's clear that national
bcasters like Stern (not dumping on him) can say and do things that a
local (assuming _some_ talent) could even try.  Yes, local advertisers
(the market factor) could pull out and kill the deal by midnight but
it runs deeper than that; there are certain things a local community,
where the victims have recognizable faces, can't tolerate.  What's
good for the neighborhood should be good for the nation and the
broadcasters who blanket it.

Bill O'Neill