If it Bleeds, it Leads Respectfully

By: Emma Kennedy
ek001915@ohio.edu

As journalists we have a requirement to report on breaking news, but we also have to keep in mind the ethics of putting a private citizen in the hot seat. Minors are never exposed in the media but maybe we should allow adults the same privacy.

We all know the classic saying "if it bleeds, it leads," when horrific events happen they are always breaking news stories. But we have to remember that the people involved in these horrific events have personal lives and family members and do not always want their face plastered all over computer screens.

A great example of this is the death of Mollie Tibbetts, a student from Iowa who was murdered. Her disappearance made headlines as did the discovery of her death because that portion of the story was breaking news. But soon after, her death became politicized because the man who killed her was an immigrant. Conservatives attempted to use her death as a reason to strengthen immigration policies and border patrol.

cnn.com

Tibbetts' family members have pleaded for the publicity to stop because they do not agree with the conservatives and do not want Tibbetts' death to be politicized. As journalists, we need to respect this because after her death Tibbetts no longer news worthy and there is no need to exploit her.

However, this is an extremely fine line because this is another post about Tibbetts, but she is news worthy again because of the over politicization of her death. If her death was never politicized and overly reported we would not need to worry about continuing to invade on her family's privacy.

As journalists, we need to be respectful when covering tragic events. We need to remember that when we cover deaths and mass casualties that means we are also covering grieving families. No matter who dies there is always someone who is grieving the loss and as journalists we need to respect that.

We need to be careful that what we write could completely change someone's life forever. If we write something bad about a person without a good reason was it worth ruining their life and the way people perceive them?

The most important part of a story is the news worthiness of the content. If a story is not news worthy we need to take a step back and weigh the consequences of running it against the positives.

Covering mass shootings and horrific events is a tough situation for reporters, they need to be published and quickly. But we need to remember the feelings of the people we are talking to and the feelings of those affected that will read it. Yes ten people died, but those people have more meaning than a headline.

We need to remember that as journalists we shape how the public feels about certain things and how we write shapes their opinions. Exploiting this is easy, so we need to stay vigilant when covering breaking news and stay ethical. There is never a need to ruin the life of a private citizen for a few extra clicks.