Has the Liam Payne coverage been too intrusive or about right?

[mids2019]

I noted a compliant from Cheryl Cole that the media coverage of Liam Payne's death has been too intrusive, salacious and graphic.

I am split on this. While I do feel for Liam's young son that some of the details may be harrowing as he grows up isn't there a public interest for reasonable accurate reporting and not glossing over a lot of the quite disturbing detail.

I was struck by the difference between BBC coverage, 'Liam fell to his death' and the Daily Mail where a huge number of articles concentrated on his behaviour, drug paraphernalia, drunkenness, possible pychosis etc.

What should the balance be in the reporting? Is maintaining dignity of the dead more important than maybe an honest but uncomfortable reporting.

I feel the coverage has been over the top
I don’t see why the BBC had to have a reporter outside the hotel

The absolute irony of some of the nastiest replies on here to the OP (who’s done nothing wrong - if you don’t want to read the thread don’t click on it but you have no right to police what other people want to chat about and it’s a perfectly legitimate and even interesting qs to consider) trying to claim some moral high ground in the “be kind” vein is hilarious.

FYI being nasty to strangers online on a parenting forum because you’re anonymous doesn’t make you better than someone who reads the Daily Mail.

Nobody outside of his family need to know any of the details. Literally nobody needs to see graphic photos of his dead body.

Would argue that no one could ever predict the level of fame that 1D would get, let alone the boys themselves and I highly doubt it's what they wanted.

There's a difference between fame for your music and talent and the way fame is nowadays with social media and no privacy. He was a young boy when he got 'fame' so I think your argument of him choosing fame and deserving this is invalid and insensitive.

Your thread has added to it, yes. Too much and too intrusive.

Still don't really know who this bloke is. It's all words but the amount of threads on it is bloody weird. There are too many ghouls on here picking over the bones of every little tragedy. Just knock it off ffs.

I dont thing that anyone can argue that if you choose to audition (twice) for prime time TV series then your ultimate goal isn't fame and fortune... There are many very talented musicians that never become famous - fame is never based on talent alone.
One Direction was a manufactured pop band put together with the sole purpose of making money via fame...

There’s pictures of his dead body online. My teenage daughter tells me there’s a 2second or so video clip of him (or what is allegedly him) falling from his balcony. There are photos of his trashed hotel room full of what appears to be drug paraphernalia. He’s only been dead what, 2 days? We know far too much about this man’s death that we don’t need to know.

I feel very sorry for his family including his young son who have not only lost their loved one but also have to come to terms with it while it’s played out publicly for the entertainment of others.

He was a teenager when he auditioned so could he have really appreciated what was in store if he got through?

If it's at all reassuring for you or for her, that video clip is fact checked as being a man escaping a fire and not Liam. It randomly popped up on my twitter feed and I was horrified thinking I'd seen his death but it's a macabre hoax.

Oh dear.
What does it matter?

Probably not and I very much doubt the adults around him had his best interests at heart either.
Fame can be brutal and there is always a price to pay on regard to privacy. It's very sad but the public (who incidentally made him famous) will always be interested in every detail of his life and death...

In all fairness, the various celebrities releasing statements and commenting on social media aren’t really helping matters are they? More than a whiff of hypocrisy about some of it as well……

Not again. For fucks fucking sake. Leave the poor family alone!

I think not just in death, but in life, that people forget that celebrities are real people. Some absolutely vile things get posted on social media, including on here, about people that would never get said to their faces. It goes beyond the pale at times.

Liam should be able to rest now and his family and friends should be able to grieve. He has a child who is going to grow up without his daddy, he is going to know about his problems but he doesn’t need to see the articles that he media have written about these past few days. It’s been like vultures picking over carrion.

I suppose maybe the general question is if you live in the public eye do you have the right to escape it when a tragedy occurs? I suppose it's to what extent right to privacy extends but I do think an anodyne 'fell off a balcony' does not tell an entirely full story though obviously a lot of people would find this respectful.

Well arguably the current coverage isn't affecting Liam is it, and his parents, siblings & son don't live in the public eye.

Surely everyone has the right to privacy?

just because you end up in the spotlight in life shouldn’t mean that you hand over all control of your life to the media. Even more so after death when it is your loved ones who are impacted.

Awful. He wasn't anyone of particularly great importance, and his family deserve privacy.

As for public interest. What interests the public and what is in the interest of the public are two very different things.

The headlines I’ve seen have been salacious rather than factual. Ultimately a young man was taken for all he had by the music industry, then dumped and regardless of the circumstances is no longer alive and leaves behind a young boy. At least amongst all the media footage of Liam over the years there are interviews where he talks lovingly about his son and I hope that’s what Bear looks at when he is older and not the gossip.

All I know is I don't need to see the dead body but somehow it's been on my x numerous times, and that is sick

I am 50 so quite old, but I had genuinely never heard of him. I had heard of One Direction, but apart from Harry Styles no idea who the others are. None of my friends had any idea who he was either. I am really puzzled by all the coverage. His death is of course tragic.

That's because you don't know who he is. If you did you would understand it. He was a major part of many people's growing up. Their first teenage crush perhaps.

Get off x

@purplebeansprouts I think it would be more appropriate for pictures of dead bodies to "get off x" but thanks for your advice