San Antonio police can only use deadly force to protect themselves, a fellow officer or bystander only if their lives are in immediate danger, according to department policy. Credit: Shutterstock

San Antonio’s News4SA is facing online backlash after an unidentified person commented in a video clip from the NBC affiliate that getting footage of a dead body being pulled from a local lake might improve ratings.

The incident happened last Wednesday while rescuers were searching for 19-year-old Roiner Alejandro Rojas Pereira, who disappeared earlier this month while tubing in Canyon Lake. On April 14, Pereira separated from his tube and drifted toward a water intake near the lake’s dam, the Express-News reports. His body was found over the weekend, according to the daily.

News4SA posted video of the search, which the news outlet covered via helicopter. During the 30-second clip shared on the station’s website, an unidentified person can be heard saying the discovery of a body would improve the station’s ratings.

“I hate to say this, but man, if we get the part where they discover the body, that would be good for ratings,” a man’s voice says. “Good for ratings.”

News4SA officials didn’t respond to the Current‘s request for comment.

The clip, which has since been removed from News4SA’s website, was shared on the r/sanantonio Reddit page, where commenters voiced their distaste.

“I wouldn’t call that journalism but it certaintly is news,” Reddit user @peanut42 said. “We need to expect better.”

Another Redditor, @Automatic_Actuator_0, commented, “Seems like a hot mic over some B-roll they didn’t check before posting. A neat peak behind the curtain.”

Meanwhile, user @dontbethatguy simply wrote, “Gross.”

However, others said they weren’t surprised to hear someone in the news media express such a sentiment.

“A news director’s #1 rule: “If it bleeds, it leads,” user @ Ishaped210 said.

Another user agreed.

“That’s how the media works,” @Wardenofweenies wrote. “Ratings and money is the name of the game.”

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This article appears in Apr 17-30, 2024.

Michael Karlis is a multimedia journalist at the San Antonio Current, whose coverage in print and on social media focuses on local and state politics. He is a graduate of American University in Washington,...