It’s what gives news folks a bad rap. News sources that feed on the carcass of a story that is not only over and done, but one that involves heartbreak for an individual or family.
Unfortunately, it’s quite common in today’s news cycle. And in recent days it hit fairly close to home and from the side of the story that I’m not usually on.
The story wasn’t hard to miss. From local newspapers to Inside Edition, last weekend there were reports of a bomb explosion in a suburban Boulder, Colo. neighborhood. A 44-year-old woman and her husband were severely burned after an explosive device detonated inside their car shortly after pulling out of their driveway.
It happened to be in the same cul-de-sac that my sister and her family live. The victims were her friends. The children were her childrens’ friends. In a matter of minutes my sister’s June Cleaver-like neighborhood, lined with white picket fences and color-coordinated two-story homes, became a buffet for hungry reporters and news crews looking for that delicious morsel of the story that no one else had.
For several days, from before sunrise to long after sunset the crews quickly became unwelcome guests on Lodgewood Point. They made it difficult for residents to drive in and out of their neighborhood. If they weren’t knocking on front doors, they were hounding families through car windows for comments about the terrifying events that took place in what has always been a friendly, safe neighborhood where block party cookouts are normal occurances and where there are more kids on scooters whizzing through the cul-de-sacs than there are vehicles.
Into this peaceful bit of suburbia news crews blasted high-powered spotlights at 4:30 in the morning, presumably for East Coast news feeds, turning the sleepy cul-de-sac into the bright of day before a reasonable hour. They even cornered neighborhood children trying to resume their normal outdoor activities with questions about what they saw the day of the explosion.
It’s no wonder my sister texted me with: “I h8 news people....sorry...but I just do!!”
I understand. I do too sometimes.
There’s a difference between reporting on a story to inform the public with information they need to know and pathetically pecking at the remains of a story day after day with the intent of satiating a voyeuristic curiosity, or even worse, to make a buck.
A quick Google search for the events that took place January 7 on Lodgewood Point reveal exceedingly more information than the average person really needs to know about the victims and their family. Its the result of the kind of “junk-journalism” to which we’ve become so accustomed. Going beyond the who,what, when, why, where of a story and delving into the miry mess of people’s personal lives.
The private heartbreak that already existed in the family before the events of last weekend was, over the course of several days, vomited into the public domain with no regard for the individuals for which it affected.
That’s not the job of a journalist.
My sister, naive to how the news machine works, sought some guidance from me about how to respond to reporters’ requests to talk. I tried to encouraged her to share what she saw and knew. After all, a bystander’s account can offer important information when it comes to reporting on and investigating a story.
But I told her she only had to answer questions she wanted to answer and she should not speculate or assume (because they would try to get her to). Stick to the facts. Follow her conscience. Don’t be afraid to say, “I cant answer that question.” And know when to say “I’m done.”
Despite pressure from her neighbors not to, she may have been one of the few people in her neighborhood with the courage to talk to reporters that day.
But I was proud of her. She did her job responsibly.
It was the news crews -- the professionals -- who could have done better. While they had every right, in fact an obligation, to be at Lodgewood Point that day, they should have remembered that they were guests there. They should have put themselves in the shoes of the residents, being courteous and sensitive to the fact that their presence was an intrusion.
They also should have known when to ask the questions and then when to stop. And when to let the victims go and put the story to bed.
Sadly, shocking events like the one that happened in the cozy Colorado suburb won’t be the last one of its kind. And, sadly, there will always be starving news crew just waiting to get a bite out of them at any cost.
But for the record, that’s not -- and never will be -- journalism.
Fortunately, as quickly as news is made, it is replaced by the next big story. A news-worthy blizzard came through Boulder a few days ago and the folks at Lodgewood Point finally woke up to a neighborhood blanketed with snow instead of strangers.
They’ve likely never been happier to see bad weather.
Ashley Knecht Walker
Editor
jasper007 (anonymous) says...
All you have to do is read "Yahoo News" on the internet to know this is true.
Mundane "news" stories", "tabloid" journalism at it's finest! Who cares about half this crap? I agree with Ms. Walker. Thanks for the story.......
January 15, 2012 at 9:08 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )