Cable Network's 'Oxygen Remaining' Countdown For Titanic Sub Sparks Outrage

Cable network NewsNation has been slammed on social media for broadcasting an "Oxygen Remaining" countdown clock amid the frantic search for the submersible that has gone missing in the Atlantic.

Search teams are racing against time to find an advanced submersible named Titan, which is carrying five people to tour the wreckage of the Titanic at a depth of about 12,500 feet. Crews have been searching for the vessel since Sunday. As of Tuesday, the Coast Guard said there had been no signs of the submersible, and officials estimate that the people on board will likely run out of breathable air on Thursday.

With news coverage of the search and rescue mission dominating the news internationally, footage has been shared of NewsNation's coverage that shows a clock counting down on the amount of oxygen remaining in the missing sub.

In the footage, the graphic is shown in the right-hand corner of the screen as coverage was discussed on the network's show Banfield, hosted by Ashleigh Banfield.

The footage has been met with outrage by some Twitter users.

Podcaster Jeff Storobinsky wrote in reaction to the video: "Whoever ordered that [chyron] should be suspended at the very least. Totally inappropriate."

A chyron is a caption superimposed over a video image, as during news broadcasts.

"They should be [utterly] ashamed of themselves," commented a different Twitter user, while another asked: "Who at NewsNation thought this was a good idea?"

"This really has been the perfect media event in this day and age, they get a multi-day story with ever increasing stakes and can milk the horror of it all they want," said another detractor. "We are in weird times."

Amid the criticism, some Twitter users suggested that NewsNation had done nothing out of the ordinary regarding the current media landscape.

"American media will do a countdown literally for anything," said one. "This is normal for America. 10 to 1 odds that there will be a movie made within 2 years of this situation. It's already being penned as I post this."

In a statement shared with Newsweek, a NewsNation spokesperson said that the clock represented an integral part of the story, given knowledge of the sub's limited oxygen supply.

"The oxygen levels on the Titan submersible have always been an essential and important part of this story," read the statement. "Multiple media outlets have published or aired stories tracking the remaining oxygen on the Titan as the search continued. In fact, it would be irresponsible not to include this information in the story of the rescue effort."

As the search continues for Titan, operator OceanGate Expeditions said in a statement: "We are exploring and mobilizing all options to bring the crew back safely. Our entire focus is on the crew members in the submersible and their families."

The identities of the five passengers aboard the submersible have been confirmed by the authorities and their families as Stockton Rush, CEO of OceanGate; French submersible pilot Paul-Henry Nargeolet; British billionaire explorer Hamish Harding; British-Pakistani businessman Shahzada Dawood and his son, Suleman Dawood.

The vessel went missing on Sunday morning after setting off from Newfoundland in Canada. The descent from the surface to the wreckage of the Titanic, which lies around 370 miles south-southeast off the coast of Newfoundland, takes approximately eight hours.

A unified command was set up on Tuesday, including experts from the U.S. Coast Guard, U.S. Navy, Canadian armed forces and Coast Guard, and OceanGate, the Titan's parent company, to find the missing submersible.

Update 6/22/23, 7:51 a.m. ET: This article was updated to include additional comments.

Update 6/23/23, 3:10 a.m. ET: This article was updated to include a statement from a NewsNation spokesperson.