News 13 has been around for a long time, and they probably have thousands of viewers in Asheville and the surrounding areas. However, they can [now] subtract one from that number. I was absolutely appalled at the way they handled the tragedy of a young man from Alabama who fell from a waterfall to his death in the Pisgah National Forest.
I was watching television on that Sunday night, and it was getting close to 11 p.m. A promo ad for News 13 came on. The anchorman mentioned the accident and then asked: “Did he survive? Tune in at eleven to find out.”
I couldn’t believe what I was hearing! I find this comment completely unacceptable. This was a real-life tragedy, not an episode of a fictional television show, and whether or not a man survived should not be used as a teaser to get viewers to “tune in.” Are the ratings for News 13 getting so low that they have resorted to this? Or do they simply have no hearts?
— Rachel Wooten
Asheville
