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

Cases such as MM; going missing on holiday/snatched etc are (thankfully) pretty rare. But it seems to me, that there's this ghoulish predilection by the media to hype it all up and prey on parent's fears; to hold MM's parents (and those like them) up as pariahs for the public, hate figures. There's almost a smug 'what did you think was going to happen?' Feel coming from Sky's reporters.

Kim, this is a story which has caused massive public interest, and has caused all sorts of terrible actions to cascade into the public domain as a result.

The vilifying of the parents, the vilifying of the police...endless speculation.

Of course this is going to be the result. People do feel invested. And it is perfectly normal for people to want to know the outcome.

It is unfortunate perhaps that the media coverage is as a result of all this up close and personal, but it is not the worst thing in the world.

As I have said, we have all seen coverage of gardens and land being searched and dug up for possible bodies. Why is this different?

They do need to be reported. But there's a way it should be done, and a way it shouldn't be done.

Why the need to zoom in on the police undertaking their awful task though?! We all know what's happening! There's nothing to be gained from
Reporting it like that.

And the reason why the public want to know is because for seven years the public have been told what to think, what to feel, what happened, without any information to support that and to be vijilant in the search for a missing child who her parents have told the media they still believe to be alive. The public have been told that no other opinion is valid other than the one that she was abducted, and many gave their time and in many instances their money to the search.

You can’t put a disappearance under such intense public scrutiny for such a long time and then expect the public not to be interested in a potential development or even a conclusion.

And the outcome is inevitably going to change public thinking. If MM is found at that sight then questions are going to need to be asked – of the family, the friends, those closest to her, and potentially of others in the area to try to establish what happened to her. And if the outcome is any different from that she was taken (and I am not speculating, but in truth nobody actually knows) then it will IMO influence how the public react to missing children in future.

Well I have just been on sky, and there was no coverage there. So I assume they are just set up near the sight with some view of tents and various officials coming and going.

Is this correct?

If it is, I see no difference from other coverage in similar searches. IIRC the media even use helicopters in the UK to give a birds eye view of proceedings here.

None of what you say, Madame necessitates live coverage for the watching world. Live coverage is no more exempt from manipulation, lies or falsification. It just makes a stronger truth claim without clearly being an actual truth.

And limited, that's a straw man argument, it really is.

There was a full report earlier today madame I watched 5 mins ago and it was more of a snippet.

If it is the nature of the coverage by the Sky reporters, then I think that is a very different matter.

I think they should be there.

But if they are being as ghoulish in their coverage and speculations as many MNetters have shown themselves to be over the last few years, then I agree with Ziggie, they need to know how distasteful people regard that kind of coverage.

Wannabe, all of that can be achieved without broadcasting live from the scene. And besides which is arguably just media supported, even media driven, rubber necking.

Unbelievable comments on here, it's their fault their daughter was abducted because she were left in her room? So an unattended child is fair game for an abducter? I hope you're going to walk your children to school until they are 16 in that case cos a single child going to school is just an offering to the evil. And sleep in their room, to protect from the ones that climb through windows.

That poor woman.

"The villifying of parents, the villifying of police... The endless speculation"

All achieved through and not cured by press coverage

And I agree by broadcasting prurient speculation on the part of reporters is awful, not only because it debases both the media and ourselves in the process, but in a world where freedom of speech and freedom of the press is under increasing pressure, that kind of journalism undermines at every turn.

But it is perfectly possible to produce respectful coverage which adheres to good journalistic principles.

Not covering it simply for questions of taste is a non-starter.

The be honest out, the majority of vilification of the parents seems to be open forum driven. MN being one such.

Are they excavating the whole area of each site or does equipment exist that can help them target specific areas?

"It's perfectly normal, to want to know the outcome"

Which doesn't make it our right, to the public good, or of any inherent value. People want to know- so fucking what?

The cannot have freedom of the press without there being abuses of it. And outright abuses should be sanctioned.

But it is a fine line between sanctioning outright abuses and closing down legitimate debate because it does not suit your agenda.

We have to negotiate this line again and again in a democracy. And thank god we have the luxury of this difficult task. Many don't.

Out, where would you draw the line then? Banning coverage at the site? Waiting for debriefs from the police? No information given out at all?

All crime is in the public domain and the resolution of crimes is also in the public domain.

When you say live coverage, do you mean 24 hour coverage of a camera trained on the site?

Or do you refer to the media being present there?

I agree with the comments about speculation. But updates there should be .

Are people objecting to the nature of the coverage or the media being there at all?