Someone, out there....

Margaret Pilkington · 08-07-2005, 15:24

Please, someone out there. tell me that I am not the only person who found the news coverage of the awful events in London yesterday, intrusive.

I know it was a media circus, but was it REALLY necessary to show us the poor unfortunate man being wheeled into a London hospital by the paramedics, with a Doctor perfoming cardiac compressions (heart massage)....the camera zoomed in and he was clearly identifiable.
I just hoped that his loved ones were spared that picture.

The news teams seemed like vultures....waiting to see who could show us the most shocking pictures.

OK....the news needs to be reported, but have we lost all sensitivity......?

cashman · 08-07-2005, 15:47

the press are vultures margaret,and yes i would not like too have been that poor guys relative

g78 · 08-07-2005, 15:54

I understand that showing the people who were victims in all this is kinda morbid and intrusive, but I don't think thats why the news stations show those images. To me they show them so we can understand the true horror and effect that these kinds of actions have on innocent people.

Doug · 08-07-2005, 15:56

I believe that the media could be a little bit more reserved and keep the photography (video included) to a discreet distance. I think they don’t help matters when they ask stupid questions of people who have more important things to do.

Doug · 08-07-2005, 16:01

Quote:

Originally Posted by g78

I understand that showing the people who were victims in all this is kinda morbid and intrusive, but I don't think thats why the news stations show those images. To me they show them so we can understand the true horror and effect that these kinds of actions have on innocent people.

I understand your point g78, but with 50 dead and many hundreds injured there can be nothing worse than identifying a loved one being carried out the back of an Ambulance on the telly. Our media have lacked any sense of decorum for many years.

cashman · 08-07-2005, 16:07

the bottom line is g78 that the media are more interested in the next BIG scoop to sell papers than peoples sensitivity,if you had been on the wrong end of press sensationalism i think you may change your view.

g78 · 08-07-2005, 16:10

Quote:

Originally Posted by cashman

the bottom line is g78 that the media are more interested in the next BIG scoop to sell papers than peoples sensitivity,if you had been on the wrong end of press sensationalism i think you may change your view.

Do not presume what would or would not change my views.

Margaret Pilkington · 08-07-2005, 16:25

I did not need to see the suffering of humanity......the sight of the bus with its roof peeled back was enough to make me understand what barbarity had taken place.
Don't the injured, the dying and the maimed have any right to dignity.......?

Doug · 08-07-2005, 16:29

Quote:

Originally Posted by Margaret Pilkington

Don't the injured, the dying and the maimed have any right to dignity.......?

Absolutely Margaret.

Margaret Pilkington · 08-07-2005, 16:39

Not to mention the fact that their relatives should be spared the sight of someone they love in such a grave condition.
If a man were taken into A&E like that, in the normal course of events, do you really think they would be allowed to watch the attempts to resuscitate......it is bad enough to lose someone but to have their final moments captured on video as a 'newsworthy' event beggars human decency. I was stunned and appalled.

lettie · 08-07-2005, 16:39

I have to agree that the insensitivity shown by the press worsens every time there is a disaster. It's all well and good reporting facts, that's their job, but it does seem like they try to play on people's grief. Video footage of the injuries should have been taken from a discrete distance. I'm sure that they have even more shocking coverage that they are not permitted to show. No doubt this footage will end up on the internet, as these things do tend to leak out.

Was it not Lord Reith, the first director general of the BBC, who in about 1926 said that their purpose was to 'inform, entertain and educate.' There are ways of informing and educating without using shock tactics and intruding on people's grief in their darkest hours...

lettie · 08-07-2005, 16:42

Quote:

Originally Posted by Margaret Pilkington

If a man were taken into A&E like that, in the normal course of events, do you really think they would be allowed to watch the attempts to resuscitate......

It contravenes all patient confidentiality which medical and nursing staff work so hard to protect.

Gayle · 08-07-2005, 17:23

I agree, and the fact that my newspaper this morning had 33 pages of pictures before it got to any other story, I also found distasteful.

chav1 · 08-07-2005, 17:30

i think its right to cover the story but the ammount of coverage it is getting is ridiculous

yes it was awfull but the terrorists and their supporters are been given free publicity 24 hours a day at the moment and must be cheering every time its shown on tv

also dragging poor soles who have just been bandaged up and in shock before a tv camera and asking them to re live the whole thing is pretty insesitive

garinda · 08-07-2005, 17:48

Sadly all though we need news coverage, the media does seem to 'delight' if that is the right word, in blanket coverage sensationalist news.

I agree with the showing over and over of the poor souls being wheeled into hospital was in poor taste, especially while people yesterday were still at a loss to find out what had happened to loved ones.