Derby Fire kills six - news reporting making me mad!

[radiohelen]

I am a journo and I can do dirty news with the best of them but this headline just leaves me feeling sooo sick! It's so judgemental, it's so insulting, it's so wrong...

"House Fire Family Agree To End Child's Life" news.sky.com/home/uk-news/article/16226990

The reporting on this whole story has been awful. To bring up Mick Philpott's Jeremy Kyle appearances and put links to youtube of the show on the same story as they report the deaths of five of his kids was sick but to make out he's "ending his child's life" makes him seem like some kind of monster.
FFS journo morons - where is your compassion - "Family agree to turn off life support" is the line you use and just hope to fuck that it doesn't ever happen to you!
This bad journalism only happens because there are no sub-editors for web stuff. It's probably time they employed a few.

That is a really awful headline .

6 children gone in days. No noe deserves that.

Thats a headline only a heartless arsehole could write.

:(

Although I agree that the wording could have been thought through more carefully, the terminology they have used is correct.
When the withdrawal of treatment is deemed necessary medical staff do have to ask the family to agree.
I can see to a certain extent why the media is using those terms, but they are clearly going for the dramatic angle rather than the sympathetic one.

I have twice been asked to consider withdrawing treatment for close family members - and it really is very much a discussion and an agreement between relatives and the doctors.
In both of my cases we asked for a second opinion and that was granted before any final decision was made.
It's not a question that the medics ask lightly and it's not one taken on the spur of the moment.
It's a terrible, stressful and heart wrenching decision to make and believe me when I say you would not wish it upon your worst enemy.

I have so much sympathy for this poor family in Derby - what they have been through and have yet to cope with is tragic and I hope that the media does not turn the funerals of these little ones into a circus.
Yes there will be media attention but I hope the journalists and reporters allow them some privacy and dignity.

there's nothing wrong that that headline - it's entirely accurate

I don't think anyone is disagreeing with the accuracy Nancy, it is accurate, the tone is wrong though IMO.

Horrible, heartless and wildly innaccurate! They turned off his life support as he wasn't going to survive.They did not decide to end his life! Whoever set fire to the house ended his life. Even if he had survived with those injuries his life would never have been the same again. Those poor parents and their kids.

As for the family's past including appearing on Jeremy Kyle I couldn't give a shit about any of that. He's lost 6 children. His wife has lost all of her children, every single one. Can't the press have some compassion ffs.

It's a news report. News should be factual, to the point and impartial.

I understand that Nancy, but surely a bit of compassion wouldn't go amiss. I very much doubt that the survivors are watching that news report, but on the off chance they are they'd be even more upset. If that is even possible.

I disagree, ripishere - that is not the job of a news organisation. In fact I think it would be unprofessional.

I dont think it is 'factual'

It is to the point but what point?

'agrees to end life' is not impartial, it is pushing the reader in a certain direction.

They agreed to withdraw life support. That would be factual and to the point.

Is there a reason that "agrees to withdraw life support" wouldn't be factual, to the point and impartial, Nancy?

I can't see the link, could someome link it please

Because IMO, Nancy is spoiling for a fight. I intend not to return to this thread.

One more point, agrees to end life to me suggests condoning a pillow on the face - actively killing someone rather than allowing them to pass away peacefully.

In fact thinking about it more it strikes me that it's a lot more factual and to the point. "To end child's life" could potentially cover anything from withdrawal of artificial feeding, to administration of a high dose of painkillers knowing that that will shorten the child's life, to a trip to Switzerland to visit Dignitas, to (what is actually happening) switching off life support.

Also, to withdraw life support ,is not necessarily agreeing to end a life.
The overwhelming medical opinion may say that it will but it is not actually 100% certain that it will.

So when someone withdraws support they do so in the knowledge that it will probably mean the end of a life but not that it will.

No - i just disagree with you risishere - no interest in fighting at all.

Yes. I'd imagine that no one will be more delighted than the family if it turns out that Duwayne is in a better medical condition than currently thought and is able to breathe on his own once life support is withdrawn.

I didn't realise the mother had lost all her children. Poor woman .

JustFab it seems that way. It isn't a competion in grief or anything but can people please remember that the mother has lost her kids too. It isn't just Mick Philpot who is devastated I'm sure. Not to mention all those other kids who have lost their sister and brothers.

It is just so so sad.

We have a family chat every now and again, DH and I alone and then all of us together, so we know which child we are going for and the children know which parent is coming for them and what to do and where to go. We have at least 3 smoke alarms and check themn often though I know this house had working smoke alarms so have no idea why they couldn't all get out.

We had the fire brigade in our house recently to fit alarms and check our fire plan etc. we got chatting to the fireman who did it and he said an alarming number of people don't have fire alarms and wouldn't let them in to fit them even though they were doing it for nothing!

Mil and fil never used to have them even though try were both heavy smokers. Bizarrely not they have given up the tags they have got alarms!

People take silly risks :(

Imagine losing all your babies :(

Scarily the house in Derby had a fire alarm. That's what woke the grown ups. The fire brigade have been on TV calling for sprinklers to be fitted to homes run by the councils. Not going to happen I fear but it would have saved these kids.

My problem with the headline is a question of style. Most newspapers would never use that headline as it is a loaded statment. "The family have agreed to switch off life support" is standard form across newspapers and is a compassionate response to a hideous event.
To me this headline implies a level of callousness, implied guilt and on top of the Jeremy Kyle stuff everyone has relentlessly included (I get why!) it is designed to be a sneering indictment on the man himself even though he made "valiant attempts" to rescue his kids. It seems you can never escape from the curse of Kyle!

the headline is ok, imo it shows how terrible it is for the family, to have to do that.
so very sad for the family

"Not going to happen I fear but it would have saved these kids."

You can't possibly say for sure it would have saved the children and comments like that could be very hurtful to the family or friends should they ever read them.

I see the reporting of the fact he has been on JK is factual rather than sneering, actually, and I find most of your post objectionable tbh.