Media treatment of boating tragedies here

MrThrifty

First off, this is not an attempt to deliberately troll, nor am I trying to be insensitive with this post. But... is it just me, or do others notice also that whenever there is a 'boating' tragedy in this country, there appears to be a media blackout on any kind of investigation or investigative journalism for that matter. Compare this to say an air, rail or road tragedy (i.e. involving a few fatalities or more), where it usually becomes clear within 24 to 48 hours what the general cause of the accident was etc.

Granted people have a natural desire to be sensitive in situations where fatalities have occurred, but are we being overly-sensitive perhaps? By not asking the hard questions at the time of the incident (sea-worthiness/maintenance of vessel, state of equipment, safety (use of lifejackets) etc.), I can't help but wonder if the underlying issues will never be properly raised and addressed. I accept that inquests will reveal this info in due course, but at that stage the matter has for most people been effectively forgotten about and any inquest outcome will generally be given a minimal amount of space in some side column of some newspaper.

Tabnabs

Air accidents such as the recent publishing of the Air Corps tragic accident show that speculation is both futile and irresponsible until the proper authorities have done their job. So no difference there either. Similarly rail accidents must be conducted in the correct manner. It can be frustrating for the general public not to know what's going on but these things have to be done in a professional and sensitive manner.

Pigeon Reaper

Any incident at sea normally has numberous contributing factors which are not always easily apparent. A full investigative report will be done and will be publicly available in due course along with any recommendations. Until this report is completed anything else is speculation and is best avoided. The reports are circulated within the sea faring community where they can help improve safety and are widely read by skippers of boats.

Alkers

I find this to be the case for Road Traffic Incidents also, e.g. single vehicle collision is reported or a man was killed when the motorcycle he was riding collided with another vehicle is reported and then you never get to hear of the actual circumstances of the events. It's not like a have a morbid fascination to want to learn of the nitty gritty but if the route cause of these incidents were published then it would surely be easier for the general public to learn from each others mistakes.