For thinking that this is the most shoddy, crass and insensitive bit of 'journalism' ever?

[HillyWallaby]

Utterly heartbreaking and tragic story in the news today. The Huffington Post version of events is here

What kind of total fuckwit thinks it is at all relevant or appropriate to print these quotes?

She said: "It's a lovely area. We're very shocked."

Estate agents Savills, who sold the house to the family, described the property as "beautifully presented with a wonderful feeling of space".

A man's whole world is ripped apart

Two babies are dead

A poor woman has been pushed over the edge of utter despair by mental illness (probably)

and all they can do is encourage us to perve over the estate agents details of the lovely house?

they did it in the Times too

"The family had only recently moved into the three-storey home, which was recently sold by Savills estate agency for £1.2 million. They previously lived in a penthouse near by."

The Savills quote is just weird in the middle of that article.
Poor family :(

Huffpo is a free webpaper - not exactly the byword for careful journalism, its probably a dump from a search of other stories. Also they have taken "placement advertising" to a new low in general.

I can't get past all the is reported to be, was unofficially named, according to reports, comments. i hate articles like this, just wait till you have the facts FGS

I am more saddended than annoyed, they were obviously desperate for photos and thats all they could get

sad, poor poor man. jesus. I need to stop reading this stuff

It's rare that photogenic, white, middle-class people are the victims of high-profile crime. So when they are it's manna from heaven for newspapers and they go OTT

Witness Madeline McCann case

It's rare that photogenic, white, middle-class people are the victims of high-profile crime. So when they are it's manna from heaven for newspapers and they go OTT

Especially if there is a nice house involved. Hmm., I wonder when it'll go on sale again. Must ring Savills...

I heard about this on morning TV today, think it was GMTV and even they were focusing on how much the house cost. Although nobody has actually said this it makes me feel that they are implying that mental illness is only for the 'poor'.

Or am I barking up the wrong tree?

I understand that Nancy, but I just find that quote from Savills plonked in the middle of the article so incongruous and utterly insensitive and offensive.

I bloody hate Huffpost, and AOL which links to it on all their new stories (full of downmarket sensationalist dross) but I use it as a home page, against my better judgement as my email is AOL and I am out of the UK and it's an easy link to UK news without having to keep on opening up different tabs.

But my god, I do hate it. I feel like a broadsheet reader forced to read the Daily Sport every day.

They do this a lot with horrendous stories.

As if rich people don't have horrific things happen to them too.

Sickening.

No I think you are right comedy.

Thanks Hilly. It's such a shame, that poor woman, her poor children and husband. So sad for everyone involved.

Affluent people mostly DON'T have bad things happen to them though....

Although nobody has actually said this it makes me feel that they are implying that mental illness is only for the 'poor'.

the rich are "charmingly eccentric"

I don't understand the references to the price of the house etc and the quote from a neighbour saying "it's a nice area, we are shocked" what's the area being nice got to do with it!!

Like comedycentral I very much feel they are implying that wealthier people don't do this kind of thing. Mental illness affects every group and class. Maybe if the media didn't have this stupid attitude the poor woman may have felt abe to seek help (if it is post-natal illness) instead too many people still feel that they ought to be able to cope and feel deeply ashamed.

Can't even imagine what the husband/father is going through and what that poor woman was feeling to do this. What a tragedy.

agree with Nancy. the savills quote is a little peculiar in the piece, but it gives a very clear indication that her living conditions were not squalid, that whatever brought her to do this, it was not social deprivation.

house details are pretty much always included in news stories.

I suppose the meaning is that this poor woman seemed to have it all, money, house, lovely dh and family and she still obviously had huge problems.

I know what u mean though.

erm, she has been arrested on suspicion of murder. If it was the father he would have been branded a murdering bastard on here by now. But hey it's a woman so must be mental illness ey.

I completely get why journos always mention the value of the house and allude to the kind of neighbourhood it's in, because it is the easiest indicator (loosely speaking) of what kind of lifestyle a person has, and that can often be relevent to the story or add an inteeresting dimension to it, so I am not surprised at that, just at the stupid, totally out of place quote from the Savills brochure.

Just to say they lived in a £1.2 million house in a leafy part of Wandsworth would have been sufficient.

I've been thinking about this from before this incident, for some reason journalists have always put the value of the victim's/suspect's/adulterous footballer's home in, it's almost on autopilot, together with their age, (frequently made up). I remember asking a journalist friend about this, he said it was a sort of shorthand, the price/location of someone's home said more about them than 500 words, and I can see what he meant, but it's all very generalised.

erm, she has been arrested on suspicion of murder. If it was the father he would have been branded a murdering bastard on here by now.

Fascinating report on child homicides over here (reading it from another Fred). Says in these cases men are more likely to be charged with Murder, women with Homicide.

Not something I've seen the MNFems be overly exercised with so far :)

so it's specifically quoting from a savills brochure that makes it 'the most shoddy, crass and insensitive bit of journalism ever'?

The charge would still be murder at this stage until she is had been assessed by a psychiatrist, and if she is found to be mentally ill she could please MS on the grounds of diminished responsibility. Anyway, I don't want to rake over that right now it's also very insensitive at this stage.

plead not please