Heartless journalists

orourkeda

Most journalists lack a brain as well as a heart

Bosco boy

Standards in journalism are at an all time low, there are only a handful of decent journalists out there, it's editors like Angus fanning in the Sunday independent that have set these standards and others followed. They are all rag papers at this stage. The local papers are where any decent journalism is now!

echosound

southsiderosie wrote: »

One of my old housemates used to be a tabloid reporter, and on the (thankfully rare) occasions when her editor gave her assignments like this, she wouldn't actually go, and would just tell him later that the family didn't want to talk to the press.

I used to work in media too, and was sometimes asked to go out and cover tragedies. Did the same myself - would go talk to the local priest/have a chat to some locals/guards/emergency service staff and refused to call to the families affected, just told my superiors that they didn't want to talk to the media.

I used to be disgusted seeing other journalists hanging around outside family homes trying to wear them down for a quote. Poor families barricaded in with curtains closed, other people calling to pay their respects doorstepped by journos trying to get a quote or a foot in the door. Could never do that to anyone myself (note - only saw this as I was given direct orders to go to the house and try to get to the family, so I'd just drive straight past the house to make sure I could describe the area if I was put on the spot as to my whereabouts).

I don't work in media anymore :pac:

Some will try any tactic to get any story they can use - a friend of mine discovered a murder victim's body which had been dumped in countryside some years back, and after the dicovery was reported etc, a woman called up to my friend's door the next day dressed in navy pants, navy jacket and pale blue shirt with brass buttons, looking for all the world like it was a garda uniform.

My friend was naturally still very shaken and upset, and didn't think to question the woman on whether she was a guard or not, just assumed she was, and was taking a futher statement.

Friend got suspicious with the line of questions, turned out it was a tabloid journo chancing her arm, never introduced herself etc. The journo got thrown out of the house and told by my friend that she didn't agree to an interview and didn't want any of what she said being quoted, unfortunately of course the journo was happy enough to head off and add some legs and tails to what my friend had already said and print it all anyway (adding some colour and drama about "the traumatised witness" and speculations as to the identity of the murder victim, vaguely attributed to my friend etc).

Bosco boy

echosound wrote: »

southsiderosie wrote: »

One of my old housemates used to be a tabloid reporter, and on the (thankfully rare) occasions when her editor gave her assignments like this, she wouldn't actually go, and would just tell him later that the family didn't want to talk to the press.

I used to work in media too, and was sometimes asked to go out and cover tragedies. Did the same myself - would go talk to the local priest/have a chat to some locals/guards/emergency service staff and refused to call to the families affected, just told my superiors that they didn't want to talk to the media.

I used to be disgusted seeing other journalists hanging around outside family homes trying to wear them down for a quote. Poor families barricaded in with curtains closed, other people calling to pay their respects doorstepped by journos trying to get a quote or a foot in the door. Could never do that to anyone myself (note - only saw this as I was given direct orders to go to the house and try to get to the family, so I'd just drive straight past the house to make sure I could describe the area if I was put on the spot as to my whereabouts).

I don't work in media anymore :pac:

Some will try any tactic to get any story they can use - a friend of mine discovered a murder victim's body which had been dumped in countryside some years back, and after the dicovery was reported etc, a woman called up to my friend's door the next day dressed in navy pants, navy jacket and pale blue shirt with brass buttons, looking for all the world like it was a garda uniform.

My friend was naturally still very shaken and upset, and didn't think to question the woman on whether she was a guard or not, just assumed she was, and was taking a futher statement.

Friend got suspicious with the line of questions, turned out it was a tabloid journo chancing her arm, never introduced herself etc. The journo got thrown out of the house and told by my friend that she didn't agree to an interview and didn't want any of what she said being quoted, unfortunately of course the journo was happy enough to head off and add some legs and tails to what my friend had already said and print it all anyway (adding some colour and drama about "the traumatised witness" and speculations as to the identity of the murder victim, vaguely attributed to my friend etc).

Fair play to you for having cop on, you were obviously to decent for the job!

echosound

^^ thanks wasn't trying to make myself out to be great or anything, just always remain astounded at the lack of empathy and humanity some journos display. Although it has to be said a lot of journos are merely taking orders and put under pressure by superiors for often times a pretty sh1tty wage, and there's a queue of others lining up behind them to take the job if they won't do it. It wasn't a lifetime career for me.

FFS a person's life has been extinguished, let their family grieve, why would having a quote from the poor father in this case have "improved" the "story". Let the poor man try to deal with the loss of his little daughter without banging his door down to badger him.
Last thing I'd want even in normal happy day-to-day life is some stranger banging on my door looking for a quote to run in various forms of media, let alone having it happen the worst day of my life in the midst of an awful trauma.

hondasam

Do journalists not want to be the first with the story. Nothing sells papers like Tragic stories.

Helix

journalists wouldnt write this kind of story if people didnt want to read it

fact

hondasam

Helix wrote: »

journalists wouldnt write this kind of story if people didnt want to read it

fact

This is the problem, we all read it, does that make us as bad as the journalist?

Helix

hondasam wrote: »

This is the problem, we all read it, does that make us as bad as the journalist?

its makes you worse, because you're creating demand for these kind of stories. the journalist is just doing his job in giving the people what they want

Gyalist

Clearly there is some sort of hierarchy of people whose family ought to be allowed "space to grieve". Or is it different because it's an Irish child and therefore much closer to home?
Child dies in tragic road accident in Ireland, space to grieve; child dies in it's mother's arms in Africa, not so much.

hondasam

Helix wrote: »

its makes you worse, because you're creating demand for these kind of stories. the journalist is just doing his job in giving the people what they want

Such is life, tragedies happen, media report it and we the public read it.
Is reading about it on boards not just as bad?

K-9

Ah, the contrarians have arrived!

As I posted already I do think there is a time and a place for these type of pieces, NI eg. in the late 80's and early 90's.

This one I don't really see the greater good argument.

I'd say if the father had given the interview the point wouldn't have been raised at all! Nobody would have noticed.

Bosco boy

How someone could have the neck to compound the agony of these people at this time says what type of person they are and the type of profession the represent. No justification in my opinon can be made for calling to that families door at this time! They did not need it and the public didn't need it either. Shame on the journalist and shame on the paper.

Helix

Bosco boy wrote: »

How someone could have the neck to compound the agony of these people at this time says what type of person they are and the type of profession the represent. No justification in my opinon can be made for calling to that families door at this time! They did not need it and the public didn't need it either. Shame on the journalist and shame on the paper.

the public dont need it, but by christ they want it

Helix

hondasam wrote: »

Such is life, tragedies happen, media report it and we the public read it.
Is reading about it on boards not just as bad?

depends on the context really

hondasam

Helix wrote: »

depends on the context really

Bull****, someone starts a thread here, everyone reads it, same thing as reading the paper,
if the op of any thread is so annoyed about something why highlight it further by posting it on a public forum.

kraggy

hondasam wrote: »

Bull****, someone starts a thread here, everyone reads it, same thing as reading the paper,
if the op of any thread is so annoyed about something why highlight it further by posting it on a public forum.

To bring attention to how scummy the paper is in the hope that people won't buy it?

The mantra "no such thing as bad publicity" is a load of bollix.

This thread would only reinforce my existing policy to not but that rag.

abouttobebanned

The only thing this thread reinforces for me is my belief that whatever topic of thread starts in boards there will always be people - contrarians as they were called, excellently, by a poster above - who will disagree. The funny thing is...for a lot of them, theyre just disagreeing for the sake of it...peed off at seeing so many people agreeing with one thing they feel they must be an individual and go against the tide.

The person that said we demand thIs so paper's provide it - that's nonsense. Irish people know grief as much as any other country...we know or at least can imagine how a parent must feel if they lose a child. We don't need to read a quote cause we know what it would or wouldn't say. We read whatever a paper decides to print - that's if we have chosen to be a buyer of that paper in the first place.

I will admit that a lot of Irish people seem to have an unhealthy obsession with bad news and the retelling of it, but we do have a healthy respect for the respect of the grieving.

SV

Helix wrote: »

its makes you worse, because you're creating demand for these kind of stories. the journalist is just doing his job in giving the people what they want

Who's worse, the person who creates the snuff movies or the person who buys them?

Ellis Dee

Those "heartless journalists" are, in a way, just whores. They write the kind of crap they know their editors and the newspapers' proprietors expect, because otherwise they are unlikely to have a job for long. But the editors and proprietors, in turn, know what the readers want. And that is the vicarious pleasure of voyeuristically savouring the grief and unhappiness of others. Everyone who buys those papers is aiding and abetting in this parasitical exploitation and bears part of the guilt.:mad::mad::mad:

Freddie59

kincsem wrote: »

Journalist probably sent by editor.

My God. Has it REALLY come to this? Those poor parents. May she rest in peace.

the_syco

MagicSean wrote: »

I just want to draw your attention to the part I have put in bold. What kind of heartless bastard tries to interview a grieving father within 24 hours of him losing his young daughter? I'm disgusted.

Most papers just ring them.

Bosco boy

Helix wrote: »

Bosco boy wrote: »

How someone could have the neck to compound the agony of these people at this time says what type of person they are and the type of profession the represent. No justification in my opinon can be made for calling to that families door at this time! They did not need it and the public didn't need it either. Shame on the journalist and shame on the paper.

the public dont need it, but by christ they want it

Decent intelligent folk don't want it and I'd like to think they are in the majority!

Jimmy Bottlehead

I don't see what's heartless - people want news... how the hell do they expect to get all the details without the journalist doing every possible bit of research and interviewing?!

biko

hondasam wrote: »

This is the problem, we all read it, does that make us as bad as the journalist?

Yes, we demand - they supply.

Imagine if there was a accident, or a murder, and the news would be:
"we'll give it a few day out of respect for the family. Then you'll get the info on the accident/murder"...

People are curious, just check the local forums for "I saw an accident, anyone know anything?" threads.
People don't even wait for the news to arrive, they actively seek it out.
On-line rubbernecking.

This is why journalists will interview the grieving parents asap.

Bosco boy

biko wrote: »

hondasam wrote: »

This is the problem, we all read it, does that make us as bad as the journalist?

Yes, we demand - they supply.

Imagine if there was a accident, or a murder, and the news would be:
"we'll give it a few day out of respect for the family. Then you'll get the info on the accident/murder"...

Nothing justifies that type of journalism, decency should show them where the line is. Maybe that's why so many people have stopped buying these rags.

Bosco boy

Jimmy Bottlehead wrote: »

I don't see what's heartless - people want news... how the hell do they expect to get all the details without the journalist doing every possible bit of research and interviewing?!

A percentage of the population want child porn, does that mean we should print it for them?

Jimmy Bottlehead

Bosco boy wrote: »

A percentage of the population want child porn, does that mean we should print it for them?

This isn't a percentage - this is a majority we're talking about. The PUBLIC want these details.

I'm a qualified journalist, (not working in the media at present) though my field was sports journalism. At the end of the day, people want the juiciest, grimiest, most shocking facts and quotes out there - the journalist provides what the public WANTS.

Nothing sells like bad news, unfortunately. And people can harp on all day about how heartless journalism is, question the integrity of approaching a grieving family, and so on... but unless there was a public interest funding all this, both financially and socially, it wouldn't be done.

There's the unpopular post of the day quota filled.

MagicSean

Jimmy Bottlehead wrote: »

This isn't a percentage - this is a majority we're talking about. The PUBLIC want these details.

I'm a qualified journalist, (not working in the media at present) though my firld was sports journalism. At the end of the day, people want the juiciest, grimiest, most shocking facts and quotes out there - the journalist provides what the public WANTS.

Nothing sells like bad news, unfortunately. And people can harp on all day about how heartless journalism is, question the integrity of approaching a grieving family, and so on... but unless there was a public interest funding all this, both financially and socially, it wouldn't be done.

There's the unpopular post of the day quota filled.

I disagree. The public want certain details but not these ones. The public would be perfectly satisfied to know that a ten year old girls was hit by a car and killed. They don't want her name, address, daily planner or to know how that her parents are devastated.

Dermighty

Why the **** would you want to talk to the family?

Reporter: How do you feel regards what happened your daughter?

Father: ...