Thursday, December 01, 2005
Journalism Ethical Dilemma #1
Today in class, we play Devil's Advocate.
A celebrity has died. Your editor wants you to go to the parents' house and cover the story. The family has been repeatedly quoted in the news asking the media to leave them alone while they deal with their loss. What do you do?
At first people were adamant that they wouldn't go, they would have too much respect for the relatives to go bothering them. Particularly when they said they wanted to be left alone.
Good answer. You're fired.
Realisation dawned for me. I had just gotten a taste of what reporting news might actually be like. Sitting outside someone's house on a grey morning for six hours when no one wants you there. You don't even want to be there yourself. I definitely wouldn't. I've grieved for people. I know that I wouldn't feel capable of talking to the press.
But.
When I've experienced a death I've always wanted to talk about it. I want to remember that person that mattered to me. I want to push their every last word, gesture and facet deep down inside so that I never lose it. I want to see that this person mattered to others. I want them to be remembered.
So if someone came to my door and said:
If they said that to me I would welcome them into my home.
A celebrity has died. Your editor wants you to go to the parents' house and cover the story. The family has been repeatedly quoted in the news asking the media to leave them alone while they deal with their loss. What do you do?
At first people were adamant that they wouldn't go, they would have too much respect for the relatives to go bothering them. Particularly when they said they wanted to be left alone.
Good answer. You're fired.
Realisation dawned for me. I had just gotten a taste of what reporting news might actually be like. Sitting outside someone's house on a grey morning for six hours when no one wants you there. You don't even want to be there yourself. I definitely wouldn't. I've grieved for people. I know that I wouldn't feel capable of talking to the press.
But.
When I've experienced a death I've always wanted to talk about it. I want to remember that person that mattered to me. I want to push their every last word, gesture and facet deep down inside so that I never lose it. I want to see that this person mattered to others. I want them to be remembered.
So if someone came to my door and said:
I don't want to bother you.
I appreciate what a difficult time this is for you and your family.
But if it's not too much trouble, I would like to hear you talk about this person.
If they said that to me I would welcome them into my home.
# posted by Name @ 10:38 a.m. 
Comments:
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I still don't know. It really is a difficult question. I think that while we can specualte about how we would react if we were in the position of the journalist, it's difficult to know how you would respond if you were the individual involved who was being hounded. At the end of the day you really aren't there on their doorstep out of respect, you're there to get a story. In the situation refered in your blog I think it depends on who has asked you to respect their privacy and why. Especially if they're already being pretty co-operative with the press already.
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