What was the worst thing that ever happened on live TV?

A terrible event that was planned happened in January 1987. Budd Dwyer was the Pennsylvania treasurer and was found guilty of crimes like bribery. He called together the press for a conference, where it was expected he would resign his office. He did tell reporters if anyone might be upset by his actions they should leave. No one left because no one understood him. He pulled out a gun and put it in his mouth and fired. It was a terrible thing.

What happened after was even worse. That tape went all over to every news agency. At first there was no warnings about it because everyone thought ok everyone knows, and we will stop the tape before the messy part comes. I wouldn’t watch the news because it was played and replayed over and over. I was waiting for the weather on a local channel and I wasn’t paying much attention until I saw Dwyer with the gun in his mouth and the tape stopped a second late-you didn’t see the full effect but it was enough. I was pregnant with my first child so I was hormonal and sensitive. I spoke as to others who saw that as well. We called the station and wrote letters telling them how terrible their own actions were. It was an early news story and children might have been watching. Eventually the local station apologized for the unfortunate situation and says they would no longer run the clip at all when discussing the story. Eventually other news stations dropped the video as well. Some even adopted a new policy to warn viewers that they’re news might have graphic or disturbing videos band parents were urged to take children away from the tv set.