Christine Chubbuck was an average American woman. Educated in broadcasting and a volunteer in her community, it seemed as if her life was going in a pretty good direction. She was hired as a reporter for a local news channel in Sarasota, Florida, and had her own talk show. What may not have been apparent was Chubbuck’s severe depression. Caused mainly by a lack of intimate relationships, she had a hard time making friends with other people and was unsuccessful at dating. This may have started at an early age, when in her all girls high school she created a group known as the “Dateless Wonder Club.” In the summer of 1974, Chubbock requested doing a piece for her talk show on suicide, asking local police common and effective ways of ending one’s own life. Previously, one of her shows had been cut for coverage of a shooting, prompted by the manager for a focus on “blood and guts.” One morning in July, Chubbuck read off a newscast, then said, “In keeping with Channel 40’s policy of bringing you the latest in ‘blood and guts’, and in living color, you are going to see another first—attempted suicide,” right before she shot herself in the head.

To me, stories like these are always tragically fascinating. Christine Chubbuck was only 30 years old, but to her, a future seemed so bleak that she decided to end all possibility of having one. And this is mainly because she felt inadequate for being able to make meaningful relationships with other people. While Chubbuck made a statement by shooting herself on public television, what she also tried to communicate was that showing “blood and guts” for the sake of gaining more viewers was not conducive to promoting a sound community. Her grim lash at the manager’s decision in her last words may have had a good point. That tipping the balance in favor of grotesque news may end up having a very negative effect.