The Oscar Pistorius trial TV channel on MultiChoice's DStv platform on DStv channel 199 showed the gruesome, extremely graphic and highly disturbing images again later to viewers on Wednesday, unblurred, and with an on-screen restriction of just 13.
Sky News (DStv 402) in a filed and edited story late on Wednesday included the images, but blurred it, warned viewers, and told them the images on the monitor behind the prosecutor and the big image shown full-screen, are going to be blurred.
The shocking on-air broadcast on Wednesday of a dead Reeva Steenkamp's head made cringe-worthy South African television history.
It was the first time in South African television history that an an image/photo of a victim, photographed dead on the scene by the police, was shown on South African television in live TV coverage of a court case and a murder trial.
'"eNCA has no control over the live pool feed, this is managed by Carte Blanche," Patrick Conroy, the group head of news at Sabido's 24-hour TV news channel tells TV with Thinus.
"eNCA did not rebroadcast the image in later bulletins, although DStv channel 199 did. We cannot explain the rationale for doing so."
"Please note the clear direction we have from the prosecution is that broadcasters can show anything on the screens, for instance photos and Whatsapp messages. Where photos to be used are graphic, the prosecutors were alerting Carte Blanche beforehand".
"They informed us that the prosecution did not do so with the image used yesterday".
"Despite the Prosecution's silence on the matter, eNCA feels it would be gratuitous to show the image deliberately".
"We have as a result of this incident, implemented an on-screen graphic warning at all times, should another picture be inadvertently shown," says Patrick Conroy.
"It was a very, very graphic image," said Alex Crawford, the Sky News special correspondent, covering the Oscar Pistorius murder trial on Sky News, "showing both bullet entry and exit wounds, brain matter all in her hair. And it was utter shocking".
"It got uncomfortable for people seeing Reeva's head up there, and it being juxtaposed with the watermelon exploding because of some fired shots. It painted a graphic and disturbing picture," said prof. Tawana Kupe, Wits academic and journalist, interviewed Wednesday night on the Oscar Pistorius trial TV channel.
Besides eNCA, Sky News and the Oscar Pistorius trial TV channel on DStv, viewers are also watching the live court room coverage of the highly sensational trial on SABC News (DStv 404) and ANN7 (DStv 405) which also use and show the live TV feed, as well as the Oscar Trial TV (OVHD 119) TV channel on OpenViewHD.
