Journalists are doing their jobs.By and large they are responsible for the enormous amount of Good will and sympathy pouring in for the people of Haiti, even to people who do not know where Haiti is.At the same time reporters must not be over carried while reporting- I saw a tweet from Nuala that ‘A nation Has to take care of itself’-though well intentioned , it hurts people at the time of grief.In fact i have replied the tweet.That the Nation is not managing is for every one to see.Comments can wait.
Intensive coverage and intrusive coverage and indifferent coverage are three aspects.The line demarcating intensive and intrusive coverage is thin and it has to come by experience.BBC team as I see it is doing a great job, barring a few off the cuff remarks, like judgmental reporting on looting .
Let me take this opportunity of a TV cameraman in an Indian TV channel shooting pictures merrily grinning as a police officer lay dying, crying for water. This is inhuman coverage.This inhuman reporting must be avoided.
Story:
There’s been a lot of you commenting on the role of the media in Haiti.
This blogger for example questions the need for spaces on UN flights to go to journalists and wonders if it’s right to have “play-by-play” type reporting when someone is being dug out from the rubble.
He also wonders if people from media crews should put down their cameras and …well, help.
It’s a difficult area on how much journalists should help and of course they can’t help but interact : i saw the BBC’s Matt Frei during one of his pieces having to explain to desperate people at the airport that he had no work for them.
I must admit i’ve been uncomfortable watching people being dug out of the rubble only to have a reporter crouching next to their stretcher delivering a “look-I’m-here-too” piece to camera.
And it’s hard to explain that aid isn’t getting through, while journalists clearly are.
And a blogger here is concerned about negative stereotyping of Haitians (“when will the looting start ?”) and compares coverage to the aftermath of Katrina where – she says – white people taking from stores were described as “survivors” and black people “looters”.
Some too are also concerned that the media isn’t giving enough context about Haiti’s background, and history.
And to be fair, as you’ve seen , WHYS has been criticised by you broadcasting the sound of people in distress and for ignoring other stories (the latter is a lot easier to defend than the former).
http://worldhaveyoursay.wordpress.com/2010/01/18/media-watch/#comment-195468
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