It is one of, if not the most difficult things a reporter must do: Approach surviving family of a crime or accident victim, asking for an interview. Most people view this sort of thing as distasteful at best, invasive and morbid at worst. And, it is this kind of conduct by the media that the public complains about the most. But, is it wrong?
I've always had some ambivalence about the practice. As a former TV reporter I did my share of knocking on doors asking for such interviews. It's never easy, but it can be done in a proper, sensitive way. My experience was that people often found a kind of comfort in talking about a lost loved one.
Such interviews certainly provide families the opportunity to share publicly their sense of loss, and perhaps outrage about the circumstances surrounding the death or injury.
Is such a catharsis real, or imagined? Maybe I believed it so, as a way of "feeling better" about having asked for such an interview. Still, I'm inclined to believe there's value in it.
This is a tough one - an issue that I think should not be debated from the public's right to know perspective. It should always be about the survivors - real people with raw emotions. And their agenda should always be paramount. Anything less is the epitome of media intrusion.
