Are the media being unprofessional re Air India crash?

The - literal - doorstepping of the family has been unbelievably awful; filming through into the personal space of a grieving family, focusing on the photographs on the wall, capturing the crying mother while quizzing the shellshocked brother has been profoundly uncomfortable.

In fact, the last time I felt that discomfort was the recent plane crash in America, when a British journalist talked a grief-struck man into showing the cameras his wife's last texts to him.

The press has always been like this and with the advent of social media everyone that uses it has made it easier for the press to be vile.

Lots of people chuck up intimate details of their lives and as it’s online it’s there to be consumed by anyone. The press were handing out ghoulish tales, broadsheets and scandal sheets at public executions and making horrendous cartoons of royals, politicians and people in the public eye hundreds of years ago, it is nothing new at all.

Any post that starts “you lot” gives an unfortunate hint of what’s to come. Yours didn’t disappoint.

I was once trained by a former journalist who covered the Kegworth air disaster. He was incredibly honest and it was absolutely fascinating how he explained the public thirst for victim stories and the ruthless media agenda. It also sealed my decision that this kind of journalism wasn't for me, and I took a different path.

What a terrible tragedy, my thoughts are with all the families of those who died. And of course with the gentleman who by some miracle escaped. Imagine being the sole survivor of something so awful. On the one hand, immense relief. And on the other, a lifetime of PTSD.

Please share your secret. How are you such an amazing human being? What guru do you follow to have ascended so high that you can sit in judgement?

There have never been any standards with the media. Just look at the Nicola Bulley case. I had to switch off during that and it was almost like the public wanted it to be a murder case rather than an accident. The family really suffered due to the media unnecessarily.

I think it's awful this man is all over the papers. Upsetting for him and his family. It feels like the media owns him because something terrible has happened to him. He hasn't even had time to mentally process what has happened. I am all for remembering the bereaved if that is the family's wishes, but it feels like this man never had a choice and was bombarded.

I do think there needs to be an analysis of what the media does in this country. It has a job to do - an important one - but it is not serving the public as it should be. The quality of journalism is very poor and sometimes it is completely irresponsible, but it is because we demand so much of it. Quality journalism takes a lot of time, and we expect news 24/7.

You lot really don't remember the media harassing the people of Lockerbie, or those searching for little April Jones, or..?

Why the pearl clutching now?

You watch this shite. That's why they make it.

You lap up all sorts of shite about evil Megan Markle or why Covid lockdown breakers are bad or about wicked wicked Putin coming to get you or the mental health struggles of this Z-list celeb and by the way there's a book they're promoting, but suddenly overnight you realise the BBC is a pile of unprincipled wank?

Clickbait is definitely a thing. A lot of the media get revenue from clicks.

I did get a link that worked and then was sent a complaints reference number. Did you check your spam/junk (sorry if I am stating the obvious)

Agreed. I was appalled that the BBC showed that. It's ambulance chasing. It's not new. Journalists have always behaved very badly around anyone involved in a high profile crime or accident. It's just much easier for them now that they can trawl social media and lift people's posts and pictures.

I don't think they sensationalise much more than they did maybe 30 plus years ago...but then the TV news had maybe 10-15 min max to cover a story so needed to be concise.

As I see it the modern problem is the need to fill rolling news channels with something, anything, 24/7.

An accident like yesterday's is a godsend to those channels....grab footage, any footage, put it on a loop, try and get something, anything from anyone remotely involved and failing that, get someone on speed dial to speculate.

ITV was intrusive too. News opened with footage of explosion, then it was immediately followed by news anchor giving a warning that they were going to show the crash which some viewers might find upsetting! They’d just shown it with no warning! So it was shown twice within a minute.

And why was she reporting live from Gatwick? There was no need, we all know the plane was due to land during the broadcast. They were squeezing every ounce of emotion possible for their own purposes. Sickening and gross.

The media are a big part of the root of many of the big problems today. They generally sensationalise and go into excess just for clicks with little regard for those caught up in said story.

It's the UK media doing what it always does. Disgraceful as always.

That’s abysmal. Vultures.

It's a bit like that.

The media have had a habit of harrassing those involved in high profile accidents for years.

I was in the military flying business many years back and we had to have procedures to get effectively protection in place around bereaved relatoves PDQ following a crash, especially those who lived off camp, because the press would be on the family's doorstep within minutes of the accident....in one infamous case the reporter beat the informing officer to a relative....

Social media and comms had made it worse.

..and as with anything technical the press haven't got a scooby do what happened and frankly neither have most of the "aviation experts" they use, and that includes many of the retired pilots and travel writers they wheel out.

Don't you come for the wildlife camera team bits at the end of every Attenborough episode........

Do bears shit in the woods?

Same for me and when I tried to put a complaint in to the BBC you have to verify it with a link they emailed but the link didn't work.

It’s abhorrent. I remember having the BBC coverage of the July 7th bombings on in the background and having to turn it off as one of the journalists was quizzed for a description of the scenes and almost sounded ecstatic as he described the gory details. I’ve never heard anything like it. So disrespectful.

Agree wholeheartedly that the BBC coverage was disgraceful. All that was required today was a simple, respectful presentation of the facts, that many have died and one man has survived.

The relatives interviewed had obviously not had time to process the facts, and should not have been subjected to such intrusive and banal questioning.

@Gattopardo the comment section of the DM is a cesspit. The paper itself is banned from being used as a source on wikipedia (which for my sins I edit a lot).

Regards that poor relative of the man who survived, the shock he must be in right now is unimaginable. The media (even the reputable ones) does not care about the wellbeing of such people though. Clicks and views is their priority.

It’s so disgusting. Racists don’t even see POC as human beings.