Media respect for the fallen & thier families

[on guard for thee]

A bit of a high-jack here, but I need to vent....

Just went to the North-Side Canex in Petawawa....

CBC news crew (with camera) stationed between the in and out doors of the grocery store....

Before the media starts to interview military members and family members, should a semblance of respect not be given (ie: people commenting on the deaths of service members while ignorant of whether they know the fallen or not)????

I know we are open to public scrutiny, but trapping people (by their positioning) before the names of those killed or injured have been released seems somehow wrong to me....

Sorry. Rant ends.

RIP to the soldiers killed, and Godspeed to those injured.

 

[17thRecceSgt]

I think they lack the professionalism and respect, or it is over come by the "vulture" instinct.

Sometimes "getting the story" should be sidelined for respect of those involved.

They will push someones button the wrong way sooner or later, get some teeth knocked in and maybe then back off and show some human frickin decency.

 

[RangerRay]

I am really sorry, but something is really burning my arse, and I have to vent.

Everything I've seen today is that we lost 4 soldiers and 10 were wounded.  The headlines are screaming it.  Yet buried in the news articles, are the results of their sacrifice: 200+ Taliban dead, 80+ wounded, 150+ fleeing with their tail between their legs.

Is it just me, or is this not a significant victory for us?

With this standard of journalism, I can just see the headlines on June 7, 1944: 340 CANADIANS KILLED.  Buried in the main body: "Canadians gain foothold on French coast.  The liberation of Europe begins.  Canadians only allied army to reach objectives"

The media these days p!$$ me off!  This sensationalism would never have been tolerated in World War II.

:threat:  :rage: :brickwall:

 

[tomahawk6]

Yes it was a huge victory. The media doesnt want to highlight that fact because there is a political agenda. I have a growing belief that the media in the US,UK and Canada do not want victory as they seem to be in alliance with the muslim fanatics we are fighting. They cant beat us on the battlefield so they can only hope to wear down the will of the citizenry to wage this fight.

 

[warspite]

Something has to be done to rein in the press. But we are fighting to protect the right to a free press and the other freedoms we enjoy. WHAT can we do?

 

[big bad john]

Anyone know where these guys are from? I know they were based in Petawawa, but anyone know home towns?

You must be from the media

 

[17thRecceSgt]

Something has to be done to rein in the press. But we are fighting to protect the right to a free press and the other freedoms we enjoy. WHAT can we do?

I don't think it for US to do, I think it is up to the press to decide to be respectful, and wait a suitable amount of time and be professional, and compassionate to the families AND the military famliy overall.

My $0.02

 

[George Wallace]

arj_ns  

How interesting!  Two posts on this site and both times you are inquiring into the hometowns of the Fallen.

Rather morbid aren't you?

 

[17thRecceSgt]

darn it all, where is my rubber hose at?

 

[big bad john]

He's just trying to do his job.  Now let's do ours and protect the families of our comrades.  I say ban the ******.  But then, I've always loved the media, Christie Blatchford excepted.

 

[Sig_Des]

darn it all, where is my rubber hose at?

Hell, I'll hold'em down over a bed of nails while you work 'em over

 

[Zell_Dietrich]

    I respect that it is tempting to look at the numbers and say that we are doing well...  if we look at the numbers we are causing much more damage to them than they are to us. However, by tradition, it is extremely inappropriate to try and mittagate the loss of our soldiers with the casualtie numbers on the other side.  It provides grieving families no comfort to know that their child/father/mother "took out 10 of them".  Also it dehumanises the loss.  It is extremely important that the civilian population never sees their armed forces as a number.  I remember being in the States(Texas) and hearing "so and so died in Iraq,  but in that battel they took out ### number of sand-n******."  I honestly don't know what offended me more,  the idea that a favorable exchange rate for blood was acceptable or the language used.

    Now for the Camera crews jumping on people just after a big tragedy,  I have to agree it is horrible.  I thought they were only informed of the deaths after the families had been notified/prepaired.  Are the embedded journalists on the base in Afghanistan phoning up and saying # got killed from this division go harass that community?  I hope not. Now I know that this is a highly emotionally charged issue,  I want to go write an angry e-mail to the CBC telling them to show a little more respect/class/dignity.  (and send the same one to my MP asking him to just raise the issue)

on guard for thee ,  if you've seen inappropriate actions,  write a letter to that cable company.  I think you'll be pleasantly surprised to how allergic they are to receiving "please show respect" letters they are. Besides,  maybe they don't know better.... change that.

 

[camochick]

The press will never stop with this stuff. Last month they were at the canex here in Edmonton, this month it's Petewawa. It will never end. And when people are not dying they will print lame stories about condoms in KAF. I gave up watching the news for the most part during my husbands deployment, because I know the story they tell and the story he will tell will be two different things.

There is a big sense of entitlement in the journalism world (like pushing people out of the way to get a picture, thanks champ). They feel like they deserve to get a comment, or a picture.Too bad they wouldnt wake up a realize they suck (not all but some) >

 

[17thRecceSgt]

There is a big sense of entitlement in the journalism world (like pushing people out of the way to get a picture, thanks champ). They feel like they deserve to get a comment rubber hose treatment, or a picture.Too bad they wouldnt wake up a realize they suck (not all but some) >

I have editted your post...how does that look?

Ok and with that, I will drop it before I get in trouble.  I think I made my point. 

 

[The Bread Guy]

SOME media (even Brit) are not burying the lead, like Reuters:

http://uk.news.yahoo.com/03092006/325/afghan-fighting-kills-200-taliban.html
Afghan fighting kills more than 200 Taliban
4 Sept 06

A major NATO offensive killed more than 200 Taliban fighters in southern Afghanistan and four NATO soldiers died in Sunday's fighting, the organisation said.  NATO also lost 14 British military personnel, who died when a Royal Air Force Nimrod MR2 spyplane crashed Saturday while the alliance and Afghan forces mounted Operation Medusa in Panjwai district of Kandahar province.

In defence of the media, they're interested in what's in their back yards - hence the Canadian media focus on what is happening to Canadians.  We shouldn't be surprised at that.

On the other hand, in my time as a reporter (14 years), I never misrepresented myself as anything other than a reporter, or hid my identity as such, when seeking information - even here on Army.ca, I use my name.  Nice try (if that's what's going on), but let's see if any reporter is brave enough to ID themselves here....

 

[Wookilar]

It's not like this is new behaviour or tactics for the media, just a "new" subject for them to persue. They did the same thing when the Regt was disbanded. Same thing when Calgary was closed. They even used some of the same tactics when we were at the floods, the fires and the ice storm, and we were the nice guys then.

They do the same thing when we leave to go over and when we come back. The media types that are well behaved are remembered, but their numbers are very small. If multiple media types are behaving so badly that I have to physically hold on to ninerdomestic to stop her from "sorting them the f@@@-out," there is some serious issues inside the "profession."

My next tour will probably be as a Pl Comd. She has already stated that she better not be witness to any of "her" people getting harassed or she will be sorting it out.  :threat: "You know she's too Army when..?"......naaaa, she's just Army enough for me.  ;D

 

[Petard]

Sometimes these disrespectful media hounds get what's coming to them.
Is there an e-mail version of "get you ear defenders 'cause here comes another war story"?
Anyway here goes
About Jan 89 a Cdn Herc went down in Alaska, smacked a berm near the threshold while landing in bad weather, had some troops from the Airborne on board (including E Bty para), lost some good men then, and it was also about that time 4 others had been lost in a tragic car accident. The hurt was real and emotions near the surface. One particular naive reporter went trolling for emotions in a fave watering hole downtown ( I think it was called the Diplomat across from the Pembroke Legion, is it still there?) At anyrate the would-be vulture must've thought he could catch some troops more willing to "spill' after they had a few, instead the only thing that got spilled was the reporter on his ass after one of the troops expressed what he thought.
Not PC but it sure was apropos at the time.

On a different note I think most reporters have learned an abiding repsect for what the military is currently enduring, but there are those who believe that the nature of their business is to get good TV, and getting knocked on their can for rudely invading someones privacy would only make more fodder for them

 

[Bzzliteyr]

Well, last week as the men and women in Valcartier were returning from Afghanistan and arriving at 3R22R drill hall, there was a quite large (CBC?) satellite van outside.  I had just moved in the shacks so I have no telly to confirm it, but it certainly looked as though they were covering the return.  In the Adsum (base newspaper) the front cover had images of "families reunited" along with photos.  It's too bad you didn't see the "good press" happening.  I saw at least one  radio reporter too with him "oh so low budget" recorder. 

I believe the unfortunate thing to remember here is that the media is a business.  And what do businesses do?  They try to make money.  And what makes money?  Death and sex, shock factor.  We create the demand and the media gives it to us just as we have taught them to in the last 30 years or so.. it is not the media's fault, it is society's.  Ask and ye shall receive.

It's unfortunate, but it's true.

Bzz

 

[Armymedic]

Here is an excerpt from a Toronto Star article

http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_PrintFriendly&c=Article&cid=1157321707436&call_pageid=968332188492

Friends, family and neighbours drifted in and out of Nolan's Petawawa home yesterday. Larry King, who was Nolan's father-in-law from a previous marriage, asked that the family be left alone, but offered some warm words of remembrance for his former son-in-law.

"He was an excellent soldier and he died doing what he loved. His family is very upset right now," King said.

Before leaving, the couple had arranged for Nolan's mother to fly in from their home province of Newfoundland for about six months, so she could care for the family's four children. Nolan had three boys and Kelly had one girl, both from previous marriages.Mellish's wife Kendra is also in the military and based in Petawawa.

Michelle Crabbe lived next to the Mellishes in Petawawa for about a year before the couple sold their home this summer.

"They just built a beautiful home next to us, but Kendra (Mellish's wife) got posted somewhere else," she said. "They were really good neighbours.

``They were very good parents. They had their two boys in lots of stuff — hockey, cadets. It's so sad."

Before moving to Edith St., the Mellishes lived on the Petawawa army base, but Crabbe isn't sure where the family is now. She doesn't believe Kendra is overseas.

Obviously somebody is doing some serious research to get the "indepth" interviews with people who knew these two men...

Newscrews all around base yesterday, dispite the rainy conditions....Even interviews with the Canex staff....

:-X

 

[FormerHorseGuard]

i guess both sides of the story have a job to do and they do it in the way that sells the most airtime or newsprint.
i do not blame the reporters for the job they do , but i blame them for the way they do it.
sticking a camera in a persons face thne aska  question then edit it to get the answer they want.
sounds bites they call it i think and sometimes they should get a bite on the ass