Media & Ethics

If you want to make a point about something, you better make a video and post it on YouTube like the eight teen girls who were charged with beating another teen and then posting the video of the attack on the internet for all to see. Why would anyone in his or her right mind videotape such a horrific scene and think it is ok to post it on the Internet. The girls apparently thought that they were teaching the one girl a lesson. The girl who was beaten had apparently been saying “mean” things over Myspace. The eight teen girls decided to take matters into their own hands by beating the girl. Lesson learned? I don’t think so.

As I was browsing through my PR blogs, I ran across a blog that talked about this video of the teen beating and ethics in the media. The Internet is a huge, almost black hole, of information. When this video was posted on YouTube it got huge press on the news. One question that was frequently asked was and still is “Should YouTube take the video down?” When I searched for the video on YouTube, I couldn’t find the original post, but I found a lot of posts talking about the attack on the girl and other “girl fights.” I found the video of the attack on a news site.

When does a site like YouTube decide when inappropriate videos need to be taken down? I am not much of a YouTube user, but I have browsed around on it a little. I have never seen anything terribly inappropriate. Weird, but nothing compared to the teen getting beat up by a pack of girls. The person who posted the video should have thought over in their head the consequences. Their first thought should have been “Is this ethical?” and “Will I get in trouble for this?” After this incident, I wonder if YouTube will be closely monitored and if they will take any actions against copycats.