Why don’t people intervene when they encounter violence streaming live online?

The Modern Bystander Effect | Full Report Retro Report on PBS

Premiered October 14, 2019
The Modern Bystander Effect | Full Report

Why would someone film an assault instead of intervening? And why didn’t those watching online call the police? A phenomenon social scientists call the “bystander effect” was first identified some 50 years ago after the murder of Kitty Genovese in New York City. That case can shed light on behavior in the digital age.

About the Program

Retro Report on PBS

Retro Report makes sense of the present by revealing the past. Join journalists Celeste Headlee and Masud Olufani as they connect the present to the past through four distinct and varied stories, and New Yorker humorist Andy Borowitz adds his signature wit.

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