[Bronte1068]

I lived in PA when this happened. It was snowing so my brother and I were sitting less than a foot from the tv screen waiting to see if school was closed when he shot himself. Most all kids in our area saw the suicide when it happened. It happened really fast, especially since we weren't expecting it but I never saw it so clearly until I saw it here.

[Samara]

Some of you may remember Steve Bell, the former ABC reporter and anchor who is perhaps best known for covering the My Lai Massacre. Some 35 years later, he was my TCOM ethics professor. At the time of Dwyer's suicide, Steve was anchoring in Philadelphia. IIRC, Steve said the press conference was carried live in some parts of PA. He helped decide what would be reported and shown that night. I don't remember what their station did. He said some stations cut before the gunshot but allowed the ensuing audio to play. Others ended just prior to the shot. Until that day in class, I had never seen a person die. Watching Dale Earnhardt's wreck live (because you couldn't see him and no one knew the outcome until later) wasn't the same. It deeply affected me. Now, 10 years later, I watch zero TV. I finally canceled my cable. I had/have trouble watching live events because something terrible might happen unscripted. If I wanted to see something terrible, I would come to a place like this where I sought and was prepared to see the reality. If you had told me 10 years ago that I'd eventually become a TV recluse as an indirect result of that video, I'd have thought you were as crazy as Budd.

[Harpua]

just watched the "Honest Man" video - it really is endearing to Budd Dwyer. It's really sad and a shame what happened to this poor guy. I feel bad for his loved ones...

[85ta]

[bordendazed]

R. Budd, E. Buzz, KYW?
I heard the audio in the afternoon driving home on the Schuylkill Expressway. This was back when the former KOAM was simulcast on WYSP. The next day (in the morning) there was a creative discussion and a craftilly edited tape of the reactions spooled up for discussions.
A literal Documenting [of] Reality.

BND

[uswdkb42]

I saw this on "Traces of Death" back in 1994. I remember it vividly because I had just been arrested for possession of marijuana and paraphernalia the day I rented the VHS tape. I bailed myself out, and watched it the next evening. As soon as that video was over, I flipped back over to network TV, and all the channels had OJ Simpson rolling down the highway in the white Ford Bronco. That weekend changed my life.

[OhJstFkOffAlrdy]

Originally Posted by uswdkb42 ↗

I saw this on "Traces of Death" back in 1994. I remember it vividly because I had just been arrested for possession of marijuana and paraphernalia the day I rented the VHS tape. I bailed myself out, and watched it the next evening. As soon as that video was over, I flipped back over to network TV, and all the channels had OJ Simpson rolling down the highway in the white Ford Bronco. That weekend changed my life.

It changed OJ's too.

[sparkle03]

I always remember hearing someone say "Please people...let's show a little decorum." That was in one of those faces of death documentaries. This was the first death video I had ever seen.

[BadmouthBetty]

This was the first gore video I ever saw. I still get chills at how the blood just pours out. Crazy shit.

[Steve's Witch]

Like many others here, I, too, was introduced to gore through this video. As a personal injury paralegal, I was encouraged to watch it, my employer attempting to facilitate some level of desensitization to better cope with viewing photos and footage of accident victims. It worked. It also made me aware that the families of victims I was working with constantly carried that death with them, replaying it in their minds much like the film on a loop. Had Mr. Dwyer chosen to end his life without the benefit of cameras, he would have become a footnote to Pennsylvania politics and we would remain unchanged. Powerful stuff indeed.