Invasion of Privacy
"A woman whose daughter was murdered on her 19th birthday said: “Our lives became a nightmare. Our yard, our street and neighborhood were suddenly covered with reporters and cameras at all hours for several days. A neighbor told us she had seen a writer actually putting our trash bag in his car and speeding away. They put our family finances in the paper, which was totally irrelevant in the murder of our daughter” (Haiman 30).
According to Robert Haiman's Best Practices for Newspaper Journalists, many readers feel that journalists invade the privacy of those who are "suddenly and unexpectedly thrust into the news" (29).
I believe those readers are right. Here's my proof. Remember this story?:
"In the summer of 2008, Orlando, Fla. toddler Caylee Anthony disappeared, only to be discovered six months later a short distance from her home, her skeletal remains stuffed in plastic bags and her mouth sealed with duct tape. Her mother, Casey Anthony, was charged with the horrific crime after not reporting her daughter missing for a month, and allegedly lying to police" (CBS News).
Following Casey's arrest, Caylee's grandparents (Cindy and George) were constantly harrassed. Reporters and citizens would get up in their face and call them killers. They would destroy their property. Drive by and snap pictures. Destroy the peace they deserve. Cindy and George were not the people convicted in Caylee's murder. Her mother was. Yet, the grandparents suffered because the media and the citizens could not dissassociate them from Casey. (The Untold Story of Caylee Anthony).
The problem with the logic of these reporters and citizens is apparent to those of us who are removed from the situation. This would be like my brother keying your neighbor's car, so you come up in my face and harrass me everyday (even though it was not your car and even though my brother already paid the fine).
However, the point still stands: reporters (and citizens) are invasive. The bigger the story, the more invasive.
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Overview of Caylee's autopsy results.
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That is a great example of journalists being too invasive. The interesting part is that journalists seem to be able to get away with such actions. Maybe they don't always get away with their actions, but since they are involved with the news, it seems like they can get away with more because they are 'investigating'.