Someone, out there....

I can understand the need to provide information and I realise (from actually speaking to people yesterday who were desperate to know what was happening and couldn't get to a TV) that people want to know as much as possible as soon as possible. Someone even asked why Sky wasn't showing the bus immediately and I pointed out that perhps the injuries of people were so severe that they were being sensitive and realising it was too much to foist onto people.

It was totally insensitive to show close ups of the injured people when their friends and relatives could have been watching and I dread to think how they must have felt on seeing them. I did notice later that they "pixelled out" faces. If they really felt they had to show us the injured that was the very least they should have done from the beginning.

They don't seem to be able to make the distinction between information and sensationalism.
 
I agree Willow, they are so insensitive, I like to know the facts but I dont want to see bodies or injured people on tv, especially before their families are made aware.
 
i know what you mean Garinda.......I really didn't want to watch the coverage yesterday, but kept getting drawn back to it.
It almost felt like voyeurism.
 
The pictures were terrible and it certainly wasn't something I wanted my 7 year old to see. The whole coverage was disgraceful. I thought some of the questions put to the victims were also really quite unnecessary & at times stupid. one I heard was 'when the bomb went off on the train did people panic?' what sort of question is that?
 
lettie said:
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...
Click to expand...

The sad truth of the matter is that the media in general seem not be able to make the distinction between informing, educating and entertaining any more. The dividing lines are blurred by the race for ratings. I found it shocking that all the main TV channels were publicly appealing for pictures from witnesses from quite early on. The BBC News website features a collection of pictures sent in as a result of this appeal. And of course it all goes to enhance the effect of the murderers actions - spread news of the terror - show everyone just how bad we can make things - Sign up to our limited vision of the world now! Or this could be coming to your town.

The need to report and inform treads a fine line between freedom and unwitting propaganda, it seems, sadly, that this is a line that the media are increasingly blind to.
 
yes, A-B you are absolutely right.......this terror group got 24 hours of free and unlimited publicity/propaganda...............I am sure that we could have had half hourly bulletins in text running across the bottom of the screen.......or certainly something much more discrete.
As you say the race for ratings is what motivates........I feel that the coverage on all stations was equally bad.... though I think we expect a bit more from the Beeb.
 
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