{"id":1610,"date":"2015-12-05T10:32:16","date_gmt":"2015-12-05T17:32:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sebersole.wordpress.com\/?p=1610"},"modified":"2015-12-05T10:32:16","modified_gmt":"2015-12-05T17:32:16","slug":"journalists-behaving-badly","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ebersolemedia.com\/blog\/journalists-behaving-badly\/","title":{"rendered":"Journalists Behaving Badly"},"content":{"rendered":"

A tweet by Will Federman, an\u00a0Audience Engagement Editor at\u00a0Fortune Magazine,\u00a0<\/em>captured the essence of a bizarre incident that took place yesterday at the home of Syed Rizwan Farook and Tashfeen Malik, suspected of the recent mass shooting in San Bernardino, CA.<\/p>\n

\"ThanksMSNBC\"<\/p>\n

The tweet was a response to live news coverage from inside the home of the accused couple, where reporters from MSNBC, CNN, the LA Times, and other new organizations, were combing through the house and the occupants’ personal belongings. Social media erupted as the live coverage of the “home invasion” played out on the screen. According to reports, the landlord\u00a0(the accused were renting) used a pry bar to gain access to the home.<\/p>\n

For more coverage of the “coverage”, NPR<\/a> has photos and commentary.<\/p>\n

The fact that police and FBI agents apparently stood by as journalists entered\u00a0and began sifting through personal belongings does not excuse their behavior.<\/p>\n

Problems, of course, include:\u00a0the invasion of privacy of people associated with the accused, the voyeuristic nature of the coverage, the inability to make editorial decisions on the fly when broadcasting live, and possible contamination\u00a0of a\u00a0crime scene. Journalists, and other members of the public, are typically kept out of crime scenes until after the police and investigators have done their work. In this case the police realized too late what was going on and failed to close down the scene until\u00a0after the integrity of the home was compromised.<\/p>\n

The lesson for students attending j[ournalism] school is that reporters should know their ethical and legal rights when covering criminal news, and should not allow a mob mentality to overtake them when doing their job. I’m sure that some of the journalists present knew that they were acting in a way that was unprofessional and potentially illegal, but the fact that others were doing it…potentially “scooping” them in the process…was enough to\u00a0convince them to join in. Of course there may have been a few who were confused by the apparently lack of direction from those in authority. However, ignorance is not a defense and access to private property should always follow appropriate legal procedures.<\/p>\n

So there you go j-school students…you don’t have to wait until next fall to learn this lesson.<\/p>\n