Families of terrorist victims are calling on the media to change the way it reports on such events, to prevent worsening their shock and grief. According to the BBC this morning:
Figen Murray, whose son Martyn Hett was killed in the Manchester Arena bombing, said his 16-year-old sister was told he was dead by a reporter on the doorstep.
She said people would be shocked by the pressure put on grieving families.
A report by the Survivors Against Terror group suggested new rules for journalists reporting attacks.
They include an agreement not to contact the bereaved and seriously injured directly for at least the first 48 hours after an incident.
It is also suggested that the use of pictures of those killed or injured without permission stops and journalists gathering outside victims’ homes is prohibited.
Ms Murray told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme the immediate aftermath of the Arena bombing was chaotic and she left her two youngest daughters at home to attend a family support centre.
When the doorbell rang, one of her daughters answered it thinking it was the postman – instead a female journalist said: “I’m really sorry for your loss, do you want to talk to me about your brother, what was he like?”
“We hadn’t been officially told that Martyn had died until about 10 o’clock in the evening,” Ms Murray said. “I didn’t really appreciate my 16-year-old to be told by a journalist that her brother had passed away.
Sadly, the legacy media hasn’t reported on anything for a very long time. It manufactures news and exploits events to sell its viewers on the Orwellian agenda that is unfolding in front of our eyes right now.
I’ve written extensively about how the media covers terrorist attacks as a way of illustrating what the media actually is. The Manchester Arena bombing is a classic example.
Hours after the attack, the media in toto rocked up to Manchester. For five days, every single news show was broadcast from the scene. Public figures jumped in and out of programmes to parrot the same tired lines, like “they will not defeat us” or “they hate our freedoms” etc. etc. The victims families were pushed on the air without any concern for their mental wellbeing.
Vigils were given blanket coverage. Tens of thousands of people who neither knew nor ever met any of the victims, stood solemnly in front of mountains of wreaths and flowers. They were encouraged to do so by the media. The press lapped it all up. It reported on nothing. It investigated nothing. It prodded and poked the public to get them to react in the way they wanted.
I’d like to draw up some new rules for journalists. I’ll give you rule number 1.
Journalists, your starting point must be the assumption that the public servants and government advisers in front of you are lying. Your job is to turn them upside-down and shake them, to see what falls out.
You must immediately seek out the public servants, scientists, academics and other experts who disagree with the government and its officials and PLATFORM them. It isn’t rocket science.
There are at least 100,000 scientists and doctors who disagree with lockdowns and vaccine roll-outs. Find them. Platform them. Do your job.
That might be more than one rule, but you get the picture.
