Gotta disagree with you, Jay. As a former nurse and EMT myself, and later a
newspaper journalist and then an OSHA safety investigator, I have a wide
range of experience and perspective on this issue.
I strongly believe the greater good of the public is better served by a free
exchange of information. When information is withheld the status quo is
maintained and nothing is improved. Even when changes are made secretly to
improve safety or prevent future accidents, such secrecy insults the
intelligence and rights of the public in a free society.
Yes, there are certainly occasions when news reporting exceeds the bounds of
good taste and exploits the suffering of victims and families. It is a risk
we must be willing to accept in order to avoid the type of total censorship
imposed in other nations, which leads to citizens continuing to be exposed
to dangerous situations because important information has been withheld.
Keep in mind that news media reports are often the primary source of
historical documentation for future generations. When the news media are
told lies or given incomplete information, history becomes an incomplete
lie.
Lex
===
Date: Mon, 29 Jan 2001 12:43:38 -0600
From: Jay Maynard <jmaynard@xxxxxxxxxxx>
Subject: Re: [OM] [OT] Space shuttle - enough of the spectacle!
You're totally ignoring the victims here. They have rights, too, and those
rights include the right not to have their last words and actions and
images strewn across the public consciousness in the name of
sensationalism...which, even if it's not your purpose...is most certainly
the purpose of the "news" organizations who fought to reveal every last bit
of it...I just wish that more people would see how self-serving the media
is when pushing "the people's right to know".
That's BULLSHIT! There are some things the people have no right to know.
Those things include personal details of injuries and deaths.
As a paramedic, there were several times when I had to put myself between
my patients and an obnoxious reporter/photographer's cameras...
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