Torture on "24" Story aired: Friday, February 16, 2007
Each week on "24," 15 million viewers watch a single hour in an impossibly tense day of counter-terrorism unit agent Jack Bauer. The Parents Television Council cited 67 torture scenes in the first five seasons of the show. Some of the tactics include water-boarding, electrocution or power-drilling into a man's shoulder.
Civil rights groups have long complained about the show's use of torture. And now the military is as well. This past fall, the Dean of West Point, Brigadier General Patrick Finnegan, along with professional interrogators, told the shows writers to stop, because soldiers were copying the show's tactics.
Jane Mayer is staff writer for the New Yorker. This week she explored the role of torture on "24."
