In August 2010,
a former police officer held hostages at gunpoint in a bus in Manila, leading
to a 12-hour standoff. Through televisions in the bus, the man had
access to news outlets, which were going live at the scene. In the end, both
the hostage-taker and eight hostages were killed. Controversy surrounded the
media coverage, particularly that of ABS-CBN, a major broadcast company in the Philippines.
ABS-CBN went live on the scene as the hostage-taker, Rolando Mendoza, watched
the coverage. The outlet interviewed the hostage-taker, though it was broadcast
later. A Manila radio station aired an interview with Mendoza, who requested to
speak with the media. Though other factors allegedly contributed in the grim
outcome, many blamed the live coverage for alerting Mendoza to police movements
and affecting his temperament. According to the Poynter article, ABS-CBN
considered the implications of going live, but ultimately cast blame on local
police for failing to lay ground rules. This stresses how important it is for
news organizations to have specific guidelines for hostage situations, as they
can become complicated.
It must be tough to resist going live on the scene for something like this, but the media can effect the outcome with their reporting.
Following
the Boston Marathon bombing, the New York Post released photos of two men holding backpacks, which
implied that they were suspects. As it turned out, neither of the "bag men" had
anything to do with the bombing, and investigator cleared them. Still, the
photo ran on the cover of the Post, a widely read publication in a huge market.
In the aftermath, the Post stood by its decision, claiming it only meant to
convey that authorities were looking for the men. The Post ran a
story confirming their innocence, but the men brought a libel suit against the
paper in June.
Though the Post claimed to have received their info via reputable sources, how did their system of checks and/or ethics lead them to this mistake?
And, once again, here is the list of suicide coverage tips from the World Health Organization.
-Matt Hudson
In regards to the hostage situation, I think there should have been better communication between the police and the media. Obviously if they were going to try something, they would not want it to be broadcast live, and I'm sure the media could continue to report the story from the scene without actually filming the movements of the police. I think it is the responsibility of the law enforcement in this case to establish these guidelines. Especially today, we can assume that anyone has access to the media at any time.
ReplyDeleteI think the suicide guidelines are a good thing. I recently read a study that said children exposed to suicide are 5 times more likely to commit suicide. If the media is that source of exposure, it probably shouldn't make the front page.
Cameron,
DeleteBut how do you decide how much exposure a suicide gets? Or where it goes? Does it matter if it's a minor?
I would definitely agree that the media shouldn't broadcast live what's going on in a hostage situation, and as we discussed in class, a time lag could be used to avoid that happening again. It seemed to me that was just a weird situation all around, and the media broadcasting live didn't help matters, obviously. I still think the best practice in this situation is having good communication with the police, and following their lead in what to do with the situation.
I think that during a situation like this, if the media does go live, they need to not show the area the hostage taker is at if they know he has access to the media. When the hostage taker doesn't have media access, it's ok for the media to go live. But the main priority for everyone should be the lives of the hostages, not the media coverage. But it also should be the responsibility of the police to tell the media what is and isn't safe to film during such a crisis. Like Cameron and Chloe said, communication here is key.
ReplyDeleteThis was a great presentation because I had honestly never really considered what could happen when media organizations go live in hostage situations nor the real effects of suicide sensationalism in the media.
ReplyDeleteI honestly think there should be federal laws in place mandating what media can and cannot cover in hostage situations. It's a very serious issue that shouldn't be left up to each individual organization to decide.
I also think that the media should never sensationalize and that it's each editor's job to look for this, intentional or otherwise, in their publications. We as journalists need to seriously consider the repercussions of our coverage.