Fox News joined at least five networks that announced they would stop or minimize airing a video released by TMZ showing former Baltimore Ravens player Ray Rice striking his then-fiancée Janay Palmer. On the same day, Fox's The Five broke that promise by airing the video twice during the program.
The Associated Press reported on Thursday (emphasis added):
At least six television networks said Thursday they plan to stop or minimize airings of video showing Baltimore Ravens running back Ray Rice striking his then-fiancee and knocking her unconscious, footage that has called into question how the NFL disciplines players involved in domestic violence.
The move comes after the video from a casino elevator showing Janay Palmer crumbling to the floor after a punch has already been seen many times on TV since TMZ released it Monday. The news value of the video also is decreasing over time.
ESPN, CNN, ABC, NBC, Fox News Channel and Fox Sports all said Thursday they would no longer show the video unless there are compelling news reasons to bring it back.
“The video has been seen enough for viewers to clearly know what happened, and make their own judgments about what should happen next,” said Michael Clemente, executive vice president at Fox News. “Our judgment is that continuing to show it is simply overdoing it for shock value, and not for journalistic reasons.”
During the 7 a.m. EDT news hour on Tuesday, the video clip aired 37 times on ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN, Fox News Channel and MSNBC, according to a count by Media Matters for America. In addition, the networks aired an old video showing Palmer outside of the elevator nine times, the group said.
Fox News' The Five broke Clemente's promise on the same day by playing the video twice, the second time in slow-motion:
Fox News has come under criticism following the release of the video for host Brian Kilmeade's inappropriate joke about the serious incident and the network's handling of the outrage that followed.
UPDATE: Fox News' Special Report aired the video during a report on the NFL launching an investigation into how the league handled the incident and when it received the video. Watch:
SECOND UPDATE: A review of CNN's coverage revealed that the network played video of Rice hitting his then-fiancée a total of 13 times, including slow-motion replays, during The Situation Room and Erin Burnett OutFront. CNN played the video during breaking news announcements that Rice had told NFL commissioner Roger Goodell on June 16 that he had punched his then-fiancée.
Janelle Rodriguez, vice president of programming at CNN, told the AP about the network's decision to cut back on playing the Rice video that, "[a]t a certain point, it becomes gratuitous."
During OutFront, a childhood friend of Ray Rice confronted host Erin Burnett about the frequency with which CNN had played the video. Watch: