Bridget Otoo Writes - The Tragedy of Reporting on Tragedies; Ghana Media continues to play catch up
We simply must sacrifice speed for sensitivity in our coverage of tragedies, reporting on the loss of lives cannot be “business as usual.” But before all the blame is once again placed at the reporters’ feet, we have to see the bigger picture. We have to know about the insensitive producers and news editors whose primary goal is for their reporters to curate the saddest scenes as though the tragedy itself isn’t “sad enough” to begin with.
Going the extra mile to sensationalise people’s actual sorrow in real time is just tasteless and excessive. Tragedy is sad enough without defiling the dignity of the bereaved.
You can lose touch with humanity when you are neck deep in media norms, with the obsession for breaking news often trumping empathy. We have all, myself included, in our own ways normalised this inhumane and sensationalist unprofessionalism long enough and for some reason continue to do so regardless of how repulsive and vile the public tells us it is.
Do you know how many times a reporter or camera man has been berated by their supervisors simply for refusing to capture someone’s vulnerable moments and another station went ahead of them to post the same material? Reporters very livelihoods are on the line every time they inform a producer they are not knowledgeable in a “specialized” area they are being forced to cover.
Perhaps we do need more backlash from the public in order to learn how “not okay” it really is. Perhaps it falls on the National Media Commission, the Ghana Journalist Association and the CSO’s to call out media houses for breaking privacy rules and apply any and all sanctions especially within the first 48 hours of a tragedy.
The families of the bereaved deserve respect, privacy and dignity. There are human lives and real people’s emotions at stake here, It has to be non-negotiable and we are duty bound to make that happen.
Credits to Bridget Otoo ,a Journalist and Presidential Staffer
