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)
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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.