Frequently with murder stories, reporters must balance the need to collect information with the feelings of survivors, who invariably endow the martyred loved one with a saintliness that blots out not just the negative but even neutral reality. —Unwanted Spotlight: When private people become part of a public story (Journalism Ethics Gallery)
Similar:
Annoyed and Bored by Lazy Anachronisms in The Great Gatsby Movie
I just watched the recent Great Gatsby m...
Aesthetics
Why our future depends on libraries, reading and daydreaming
Neil Gaiman tells us why books matter:Wh...
Books
Imagine, if you will, a Shakespeare course / Propos'd in blank verse like the Bard would w...
Verses Proposing a New Course: "Shakespe...
Academia
Flipped Classes: Omit Housekeeping Mechanics from Recorded Lectures to Lengthen Their Shel...
When a Facebook friend asked for tips on...
Academia
This image of Mark Zuckerberg says so much about our future
A billionaire superman with a rictus gri...
Business
Saturday morning cartoons are no more
I certainly have fond memories of Saturd...
Business
If someone was killed in my neighborhood, I would have a more than casual interest in knowing the details. Perhaps that person who was killed was not a stranger to me. But you’re right to note that this journalist assumes that journalists have a right (she’d probably call it an obligation) to report the news. The article was written as part of a collection of case studies for journalism students, so that indended primary audience is going to affect the assumptions that the author does and does not examine.
What’s most interesting about this story is the unspoken, underlying assumption that the journalist has a need and the right to make a news story out of someone’s life. Thousands of people are killed every day, all over the world. There is no particular reason for us, as total strangers, to know anything about them. The whole issue centers on the need for human interest stories to keep up readership, regardless of anyone’s desire for privacy.