The thorny ethical dilemma of covering Budd Dwyer’s suicide is still teaching lessons and causing pain 35 years later.
Pennsylvania state treasurer R. Budd Dwyer during a news conference in his State Capitol office in Harrisburg, Penn., Jan. 22, 1987. After shot himself in the head in front of the newsmen, they had to grapple with the question of how much to show in newspaper pages and television reports. Allied Pix photo courtesy of the Dauphin County Historical SocietyWhen a politician calls a news conference, he or she expects the media to cover it. Everything’s on the record.
But when corruption-convicted Pennsylvania Treasurer R. Budd Dwyer punctuated his Jan. 22, 1987, press conference by putting a .357 magnum in his mouth and pulling the trigger, it presented newspapers and news stations with a thorny ethical dilemma that’s still teaching lessons and causing pain 35 years later.
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