In reporting breaking news, sometimes it's darned if you do...

Sometimes seeing how people respond to news is just as interesting as the news itself (and yes, I’m using the word “interesting” in the context I usually do)

In my job, from time to time I have to cover a tragic news event. I’ve discussed this before, and it’s not something I like to do, but in the world of journalism there are times when it is necessary to report on events which are not happy or cheerful things. When people are seriously hurt, killed or a crime has occurred it is necessary for the media to report what happened, and that isn’t always an easy thing to do. Having said that, I am amazed at times what kind of a reaction a news story can provoke.

Compared to others, our community is rather small so perhaps I’m closer to this than some other places but every time there is an accident, fatal or otherwise, I go to the scene and get pictures. Sometimes I post them from the scene to let people know what happened and other times I wait till I get back to the station. The overall goal is to get the word out quickly, but also to let people know what’s happening. I mean, let’s say the crash happened on a busy street intersection or on a major road. If traffic is backed up, people will want to know why and plan to drive accordingly.

But every time this happens, we catch flak from people who think that we’re being insensitive, as we should wait till all family members are notified before we publish a picture.

First off, we have no way of knowing this, and waiting till law enforcement puts out a release can take a couple of days at times which means the news is old and people have moved on. News doesn't wait for anyone, but beyond that consider this. If you were listening to the initial report and wondered if you had a loved one involved, saw the picture and realized that they didn’t drive the car, wouldn’t you feel better about it?

And even if I did learn of a tragic event this way, I would be more concerned for the person involved. I could care less how I learned about it.

I mean, imagine if this man couldn't have reported on the Kennedy Assassination till all family members were contacted?

I mean, imagine if the media couldn’t report 9/11, or the Sandy Hook shooting till ALL family members were notified. It just doesn’t happen (One commenter today noted that she had 36 cousins that she would want to be notified before the media reported it. Imagine that.)

So what do you think? I’m going to keep doing what I’m doing, but I am curious as to how everyone feels about this sort of thing.