To be shocked at Sky News' coverage of the excavations in Praia Da Luiz?

[ziggiestardust]

I didn't see a lot of the initial coverage, as I was working abroad in 2007. But the Police are potentially excavating a little girl's body, regardless of the circumstances, and they've got live cameras at the scene, waiting. It's macabre, and it seems like regardless of the fact MM was a tiny little defenceless girl, she's fair game for the media.

I just think it's shitty. Do a quick piece on it, but is there any need for the close ups of the excavation site and a blow by blow account of what's happening?

Her poor family

"It's a news creation and management situation"

Actually, it's the search for missing and probably dead child, that you consistently breeze over this, that that fact alone doesn't make you think, perhaps we should treat this carefully makes you sound lacking in empathy.

as a journo you have seen a great deal of horror and tragedy and you are hardened to it

On the contrary. I don't think I'm hard. There are things I need to do in order to carry out my job, but I also think that through meeting people I have been softened and made respectful of the things that people do that I haven't had to.

The requirements of my job; butting up against the reality of the experiences of people I have met, have definitely made me a lot humbler, admiring and downright afraid of what could happen to me in an instant.

It also makes me joyful and feel privileged. There are inspiring people I've met through my job that most people would never meet. My job is to spread their word.

So if you don't mind, I'll continue to regard that as a privilege and believe my empathy limitometor is okay.

The first thing I learned as a journalist, and the last thing I'd do is never presume to put myself in someone else's shoes.

I believe that's what you, and some other people on this thread are doing. I find that despicable/patronising - call it what you want.

Right, well, feel free to be patronised, but

It's a win-win situation

lacks empathy

Who's hurting?

lacks empathy

It's a news management situation

lacks empathy

If you can't perceive this, you have an empathy problem

What do you think about Winnie Johnson and the circus over the search for her son's body outself?

The Daily Mail is leading with "McCanns braced for 'significant news' "

Despite the fact there is actually no news at all.

So don't watch it kim147?

Apart from this thread, and a glance at a snippet of police doing a finger-tip search which looked very stage-managed, I've managed to avoid it.

What is your outrage?

There are major issues about news coverage. This is not one of them.

They'll pay less attention to MM when the OP trial resumes.

We are dismayed with the way the media has behaved over the last couple of days in relation to our daughter’s case. There is an on-going, already challenging, police investigation taking place and media interference in this way not only makes the work of the police more difficult, it can potentially damage and destroy the investigation altogether – and hence the chances of us finding Madeleine and discovering what has happened to her. As Madeleine’s parents, this just compounds our distress. We urge the media to let the police get on with their work and please show some respect and consideration to Madeleine and all our family.

www.findmadeleine.com/updates/index.html

That post is almost a month old ICanSeeTheSun, but I do wonder why the constant Media coverage is being allowed now. I am sure a few arrests by the local police and a night or two in the local nick would get rid of a good few journalists.

There have been some long-running threads on In The News concerning the phone-hacking trial which is coming to an end soon.

Also threads about Andrew Mitchell and Plebgate.

I regard this as very important as a journalist and as a citizen yet I haven't noticed a single one of you people who claim to be bothered about press standards on them.

Why not?

And, limited, whether you believe yourself to be hardened or not in no way answers or usefully attests to whether there is general harm done to the watching public by the way the press handles this case.

WRT the Winne Johnston case, start a thread. Because this is about the MM case. And awful behaviour elsewhere shouldn't be treated as a benchmarking exercise. And I think that you're now in the position of bringing up other tragedies to make a point, lacks empathy.

LaVolcan, I know that but the parents are asking the media to leave the police alone to do thier work.

WRT the Winne Johnston case, start a thread. Because this is about the MM case. And awful behaviour elsewhere shouldn't be treated as a benchmarking exercise. And I think that you're now in the position of bringing up other tragedies to make a point, lacks empathy.

I asked you about the definition of a 'straw man'.

I believe you just given it.

Whatsoever the standing of other cases, this case and its handling is the issue. Whether or not as a journalist and citizen you think people should also be thinking about other press events. The handling of this case is what we are having a discussion about, the handling of this case is the problem we are raising. Other stuff is just derailment.

Well, you need to go back to journo school as you clearly haven't understood what a straw man argument is.

I believe that's what you, and some other people on this thread are doing. I find that despicable

You think that because we are critical of Sky news 24-hour rolling 'news' coverage we are presuming to know how...how the people who are conducting the search feel? Or MM parents? and that is "despicable" ?

So by your logic we are not qualified to offer any judgement on the way Sky chooses to cover thus story , and questioning the ethics of it is 'patronising and despicable?'

We're not talking about the handling of the case.

We're talking about news management.

Oh I've been on the leveson threads

But people namechange

Anyway this is just mudslinging now and Ihave a nice bottle of Rioja waiting