Just
covering all things… Journalism
I'M sure you are all aware of the tragic incident that
happened on Tuesday 6 January when a car carrying five girls was involved in a
collision with a van in Athy. Sadly, four of the girls died that night. The
driver sustained serious injuries and is still in hospital.
But that’s not what I'm here to talk about. I am here
to talk about the insulting and disrespectful coverage of the crash by the
Irish Daily Mirror. The tabloid named the surviving girl as the “driver who survived shocking road smash which left
four of her pals dead".
After going online with the incident
a mere few hours after it had occurred, the journalists in question had the
nerve to insinuate that the crash was caused by this young girl. Imagine her
and her family’s position. She has just been through a hugely traumatic ordeal,
she has lost four of her best friends and is surviving with serious injuries
and these ‘journalists’ decide to name and shame her?!
This is disgusting, insensitive and
extremely bad reporting which lacks any sense of compassion. It is an appalling way to speak of anyone
involved in such a devastating accident.
A journalist’s role is not to add to the situation
but to explain it. This inaccurate, untrue and sensationalist garbage needs to
stop. This girl has been affected enough without the media adding more! I have
only been studying journalism for three months and even I know that. Anyone
would.
Much of the media’s coverage of this
event has been disgraceful. Images of the crashed car on the internet made my
stomach turn. Imagine how their families feel, and seeing all of these images on
top of it?! It is appalling. We need to step up as writers and take a look at
ourselves. News writing isn’t just about trying to get a ‘one-up’ with
sensationalist headlines and inaccurate statements. A journalist’s role is
simply to report the news, accurately and fairly.
If you would like to
sign a petition against the reporting of the accident, follow this link: https://www.change.org/p/irish-daily-mirror-irish-daily-mirror-s-editor-in-chief-and-journalists-david-coleman-colin-brennan-and-gareth-mccreevy-are-to-publicly-apologise-to-the-kearney-family-for-insensitive-and-inappropriate-reporting-of-the-accident-their-daughter-was-inv?recruiter=33283623&utm_source=share_petition&utm_medium=facebook&utm_campaign=share_facebook_responsive&utm_term=mob-xs-share_petition-no_msg&utm_content=rp_petition_fb_share_desc%3Acontrol
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