I realize we all have freedom of speech, and for some reason we all think we have a ‘right’ to know, but if there is a horrific crime in HRM and the police don’t want to release information on the victim yet, why do some reporters still take it upon themselves to print that very information? Like “Police don’t want to release the name or address but our sources say the person is ___ or lives at ____.”
What about the victim’s privacy or what if they still have family members that haven’t been notified that their relative has been a victim of crime? Would you like to hear that information for the first time on the news or have your address published?
Vultures. —You’re Just a Bunch of Hacks
This article appears in Jun 9-15, 2011.
I agree! I’m always appalled when I hear of the name of a victim or whatever when the police aren’t releasing the name and it’s just “been told to [them]” by a neighbour or whatever.
The media should be fined by the cops for that.
A waste of effort – case in point; the 20 year old who was shot by his father during a home invasion out here is Shitville Sunday night. The CBC and most media outlets didn’t have any details, but my daughter had the scoop thanks to Facebook. The days of privacy are down the shitter.
Media sensationalism….it’s been around for as long as there has been media….(even longer if you factor in the neighborhood gossip hounds) It’s what sells, unfortunately. Gotta get the next big scoop. Exclusive. Is it right? No. Do I agree with it? Hell no. But I think you would be hard pressed to impart a fine against the media for doing it…unless, of course, it endangered/threatened the life of someone. IMO, I think you’d just be opening a big ole nasty can of “free speech debate”. Ultimately, there is no crime to asking someone “Who lives next door to you?” or “Did you see what happened?”. First, (and only) rule when dealing with the media…EVERYTHING is on the record. Even if they say off the record, it’s on the record.
True enough Basil. I knew who it was as soon as I got to work.
And, yes, exactly what Basil said too. With the inception of Crackbook and all these other social networks, there is no such thing as privacy or confidential. All it takes is for some numpty looking for his 5 seconds of fame to post something and it’s raging like a California wild-fire. It’s all public domain after that.
OP, the news is all about money. The more details they can provide, the more readers and attention they can get. I love hearing the popular “known to police” comment, as that usually means they have a history of criminal behavior. Too bad Raid doesn’t work on these idiot criminals.
“I love hearing the popular “known to police” comment, as that usually means they have a history of criminal behavior.”
usually? only usually?
that’s exactly what it means….
what, did you think it means it was the detective’s kid or something?
how else would they be known to police?
do they use madame cleo?
http://bossip.files.wordpress.com/2008/12/…
damn it… it’s miss cleo
-2 bitch points for moi.
I bet she saw that coming… I should have called.