Coverage by media usually a help, not a hindrance

By Medicine Hat News Opinon on October 27, 2017.

There is sometimes a concern that members of the media will be intrusive and even invasive after an emergency situation such as a fire but that is not the case; media can be a powerful way to inform the public at large.

The Bindloss fire and then the one last week in Acadia Valley and the Hilda area are recent examples of tragedy affecting many people in a number of ways. Each person handles the experience differently with some choosing to remain private and that is to be respected.

Rather than seeing the media as an intrusive force for some it is therapeutic to talk about their personal experience. It is an opportunity to tell their story, to see their story recorded and told to even those far removed from what took place.

Those stories inform people who are living in the city and have no way of gaining an understanding of the devastation without hearing those first-hand experiences and seeing photos of the devastation.

When the News published a photo of badly burned cattle on a ranch near Bindloss many people talked about gaining an understanding of just how horrific that was — even though the photos were hard to look at. Suddenly there is a whole new understanding of the rancher faced with having to shoot cattle that were in terrible pain with significant burns. Those thoughts and sympathy for the rancher and indeed all ranchers will last a long, long time.

A newspaper story of an event also creates a permanent record of what happened. We regularly search the archives online to find a story the News did about something that happened 100 years ago. It helps to paint a picture of something that happened a century ago when there is nobody left to tell it in person. It is part of our recorded history.

In general the vast majority of media are very respectful of peoples’ right to privacy and are completely understanding of someone’s decision to either grant an interview or not. If there is a gathering of those specifically affected by an event like a fire there is always the option of ground rules being stated to ensure people are comfortable with media being present.

A decision to not allow media to be present might not have the positive impact that was intended.

(Gillian Slade is a News reporter. To comment on this and other editorials, go to https://www.medicinehatnews.com/opinions or call her at 403-528-8635.)

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