.
I don’t want to do this. I’ve been willing myself to get out of the car for half an hour now, but the thought of what might happen next makes me feel sick. They’re home, the car is in the driveway.
Deep breaths. I grab my notepad and start making my way up the long driveway, past the neat garden to the front door…
I hate death knocks. I reckon most journalists do. It has to be the very worst part of the job. There is nothing enjoyable about knocking on someone’s front door looking for a story, knowing a family is being tortured by grief on the other side. It is bloody awful. Even if you do get the story, you always feel lousy afterwards. When emotions are so raw – even if they are strangers – it’s hard not to take a piece of their pain away with you.
I’ve probably done a few dozen death knocks during my TV career and there will probably be many more. This summer just gone has been particularly busy: beach drownings, shark attacks, holiday road smashes, domestic disputes turned deadly.
That’s a lot of doors to knock on. It doesn’t get easier; every family, every tragedy is different. And so are the responses to an interview request.
I’ve been physically threatened. Screamed at. Spat on. I’ve had doors slammed in my face, been pelted with beer bottles and rotten food. Our crew car’s been damaged. But you just have to wear it. Grief does strange things to people. If I’d had a loved one torn away from me, I’m not sure how I would react to a reporter knocking on my door.
Vultures! Heartless hacks! I can see you mouthing the words now. We journalists should be ashamed of ourselves! Well I’m not. It’s my job. And a big part of it is helping people tell their story. It frustrates me when people accuse journos of preying on grieving families for “ratings”. If anything, raw heartbreak can be a turn off for viewers. It’s too confronting, too uncomfortable to watch. I’m embarrassed to admit reporters sometimes overstep the line: harassing families, breaking into homes, stealing photographs of dead loved ones. That’s disgusting behaviour. Most of us just knock, politely ask the question and if the answer is no, leave.
My close friend and colleague, Dimity Clancey is Nine’s police reporter. She’s hugely talented and driven and is knocking on grieving strangers’ doors most mornings. She knows what it’s like to be on the other side of that door. “I was 14 when my sister and her husband were killed by a drunk driver on the way home from Carols in the Domain. A Daily Telegraph reporter came to our door a couple of hours after the police had told us my sister was dead.”
In a way, Dimity says, that moment steered her towards a career in journalism. “Dad was a bit shocked the media knew where we lived, but the reporter was very respectful. Obviously she was there to do a job, but she was compassionate. And when I have to make those awful house calls, I remember that. And people really do open up.”
Surprisingly many families actually do want to share their story; some say the process is even cathartic. Over cups of tea, I’ve listened to a father’s plea for drivers to slow down, after his son was killed in a hooning accident. On assignment in Samoa in 2010, I spent time with a young village girl, who lost eight members of her family in the tsunami. She’d put her own grief aside to volunteer at the understaffed hospital. She was 14. She wanted family to be proud of her, she told me.
Stories like these keep journalists knocking on strangers’ doors.
I can hear footsteps coming down the hallway as I wait at the big brick home’s front door. Inside, a family is grieving the death of a daughter, a sister, who was mauled by bull sharks while on a school excursion the day before. Not just a horrific story, it’s now this family’s excruciating reality. A middle- aged man answers the door, his eyes red and puffy. ‘I am so sorry to do this to you at such an awful time..’ I begin, but he cuts me off mid-sentence with a sad shake of his head. ‘No interviews’. He’s polite, but very firm.
I am not the first journo to knock on his door this morning.
A teenage girl appears in the doorway, she’s crying. ‘Dad I want to say something,’ I hold my breath, prepared to be screamed at. Who can blame her? ‘Can you please put in your story that she was the world’s best big sister?’ She’s sobbing now, I’m close to losing it too. Here comes that sick feeling… ‘Come on sweetheart,’ the man says to his daughter gently closing the front door. I got my quote, but as I walk back to the car I still feel lousy.
What do you think of the way the media handles grief?
Sarah Harris has been a journalist for more than a decade. She currently works as a reporter for the Nine Network and can be found on National Nine News. You can follow her on Twitter here.
Comments
295 Comments so far
Excusing poor behaviour by saying ‘it’s my job’ is probably the lamest, laziest and least valid of all excuses. It’s the Nuremberg defence. If you had to sit in your car for an hour, that was your conscience speaking to you, and the fact that you went in anyway says that you managed to put aside your conscience and do something you knew was wrong.
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Oh good. More people who’ve never worked in the media nor studied journalism at university telling us how we should do our jobs. Thanks, but no thanks. Do you tell your doctor, the police, your child’s teacher how they should do their jobs, too?
I’m proud to be a journo. I enjoy my job (mostly). I would like to keep it, which is why I’m not going to refuse to do death knocks when my boss tells me to. I’m not going to leave the whole profession for the sake of some idealistic stand against death knocks, either. More change can be created from within something, than from sitting in an armchair tilting at windmills.
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“Oh good. More people who’ve never worked in the media nor studied journalism at university telling us how we should do our jobs.”
We’re not just telling you how you should do your jobs, we’re telling you how you should treat us. We are people too, not just objects for you to use to get your job done.
“Thanks, but no thanks. Do you tell your doctor, the police, your child’s teacher how they should do their jobs, too?”
Yes, we do speak up about how our doctors and our police treat us and how our children’s teachers should treat our children.
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I’m not a fan of the death knock. I’ve seen how the reporting of tragic deaths affects a journalist and I’ve seen how the care of children with terminal illnesses affects doctors and nurses and I’ve seen what happens when both occupations are in the one relationship.
But, in defense of these journalists I have to say this – they are out there getting the stories, they are digging and getting the background. In contrast, the political journalists are happy to toe the line and regurgitate the Hawker Britton cheat sheets without giving us any background, any insight, any hidden nuances or ploys. They’re compliant puppets for the spin doctors.
In a Democracy we NEED our media. Our journalists should be respected. They are there to protect us and investigate, to find the truth and expose it.
I’m not going to hate on Sarah and the other honest journalists who are going about their jobs with integrity and empathy to give us the human story, to engage us in the suffering and sorrow of our fellow human beings.
I’m happy to direct my anger and frustration at those in the industry who deserve it – yes, press club, I’m looking at you.
Sarah, I know that it’s a hard part of the job but don’t feel too beaten up by the negative comments. Just as some hate on the police, they are always the first ones they call on in an emergency – and the cops always go above and beyond to help. In the same way, if a family is in crisis, if a loved one is missing, then the media is needed and welcome and the first to be called in to help.
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We have a “Do not call” register available with penalties for breaching it so that strangers cannot intrude on your privacy, even if they are polite and respectful, and ask for your money. Yet a stranger can come to your door or ring you and intrude on your privacy at a time of utmost grief and vulnerability to ask for your opinion. This doesn’t seem right to me.
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I found this piece b/c one of your earlier commenters referenced my blog and the loss of my son. Although my husband and I were in no way capable of talking to reporters face to face after my son’s terrible accident, we were somehow able to speak by phone to a newspaper reporter. It was surreal to be sitting in a funeral home, less than 24 hours after sending my son out to play, talking on my cell phone about his life and his death. I was amazed by the tact and kindness shown us by the reporter. His article was able to capture my son’s personality and share it with a wide audience– to put a name, a face, and a person on a shocking freak accident– and we are grateful for that because we feel our son’s life was worth sharing. However, having cameras all over our neighborhood and town seemed intrusive and gory. When our close family and friends wouldn’t talk to reporters, that let the few people who were willing to speak, write the “story” of what happened that horrible day.
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I’m currently studying a journalism degree and was presented with my first press conference regarding how to treat families of victims in the media. Hearing stories from people who have dealt with so much grief, even after the span of 8 years, was confronting and uncomfortable. I think instead of hiding behind the masquerade of ‘it’s my job’ as a journalist, we should really be questioning the ethics of corporate media themselves. The fact is, if one journalist refuses to do death knocks, another will, in hope of getting a job. It’s a cutthroat industry and you can’t purely blame journalists. I’m sure they wouldn’t willingly want to do these things.
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As a journo I say there is absolutely, positively no justification for the intrusion. Most journos do feel sick when they get sent on these jobs and many simply refuse to knock on the door and dissemble when they get back to the newsroom. No-one answered. They told us to piss off. They’re not home. If a pack is waiting, however, this is not possible. It is not up to reporters to stage walk-outs or protests or stand up to their bosses. Those who say that have never worked in a newsroom. It is up to the media companies to get together and instigate cultural change. We will NOT knock on doors. We will give people a month’s breathing space before approaching them. People get sent to knock on doors because that’s how it goes. Perhaps it is time to agree that this is NOT how it goes.
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Thanks to those who answered my earlier question on why suicides do not involve death knocks. I appreciate the avoidance of suicide reporting is to stop copy cat deaths etc BUT if the argument for journalism death knocks is to allow the family to provide comment then why is this not ‘available’ to families of suicide vicitims? Surely if this is an optional ‘service’ to the family to get a quote/story in the media stating their feelings then why can’t these families provide a similar ‘she was the world’s best big sister’ quote without the details of how the death occurred?
Is it because without the background story to a death the family’s quote is meaningless? That it won’t sell papers or provide ratings? I’m playing devil’s advocate here, I know, but I can’t see why it is said that it’s often in the family’s interest to get their quotes out there, yet this ‘opportunity’ is denied to families affected by suicide.
I’ve thought about this a lot overnight. I know it’s part of the job but It still rankles with me.
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Here’s a quote from the past;
“I was only doing my job” Rudolph Hoess
Here’s a quote from today;
“It’s my job” Any number of journalists posting here.
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I’m sorry but I don’t think murdering jews in a concentration camp and knocking on someones door to ask for comment after a traumatic event is a fair comparison.
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jeez you don’t have to be so condescending and rude to make a point mate.
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There’s no need to be nasty and condescending as the above poster pointed out – I understood your point perfectly.
However I don’t agree with the principle underlying what you were saying.
Your “abstract idea” was that doing something immoral cannot be justified on the grounds that it’s part of your job description.
However I disagree with the argument because I think it’s too black and white. Obviously no one would say it’s okay to murder someone because you were told to. But people have to confront “shades of gray” morality issues in the daily grind of their working life all the time, and in that case it’s far less clear what course of action they should take.
As I mentioned in a comment below, what about a person that works in a club, who is paid using the money gambling addicts feed into poker machines? What about a person that photoshops women’s bodies in a magazine, for ads that have the overall purpose of undermining women’s self esteem and confidence so they’ll buy beauty products? Everyday politicians go against their personally held beliefs because they have to toe the party line.
It’s easy for someone to come along and say you should never agree to do things your uncomfortable with in the course of your job and then use the most extreme possible example as justification.
But the reality is across many many industries people have to do things they’re morally uncomfortable with, and frankly I think it’s unrealistic and naive to expect people to just go against their bosses wishes, find another job or swap industries because of it.
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In regard to your second example of speeding to get to a job on time, in my mind there is a clear difference between instructions where the employee has wiggle room to disregard the bosses instructions (like the example you provided) and directly assigned tasks like doing a death knock that jeopardise the employees job security if not performed. And obviously there is also a difference between doing something illegal and something that makes a person morally squeamish. Again you are treating this as a black and white issue when it is not that clear cut.
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People are forgetting that’s what is under debate is not a family telling their story or having the opportunity to do so. It is the timing of an unrelated third party asking for that story for commercial purposes. If the journalists commenting here were genuinely serious about just wanting to get that story out, there’s nothing that says it has to be done within days except for the reality that that is the news cycle. I agree that road safety stories in particular benefit from a personal point of view, however again what is the justification for doing this immediately after a death.
I think the most telling thing is that in around 250 comments it only appears to be the journalists defending the alleged necessity of a death knock.
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Far out, I get annoyed when a stranger comes to my HOME to try and get me to change to optus from telstra. Cant even imagine having a stranger on my doorstep asking me questions about a traumatic personal crisis especially in those first 48 hours!
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This is appauling. No matter how many times you claim “I’m just doing my job” what you are doing is downright revolting. At least give the family some breathing space and then contact them through a more appropriate channel, not turning up on their doorsteps.
I had friends contact via facebook by journalists when a girl from school committed an awful crime – that was disgusting enough, let alone turning up on a grieving families doorstep.
The tone of this article feels like the journalist is asking for sympathy, as many have commented below. Personally, I think you should be ashamed you are doing such a thing, and do not deserve any sympathy. Sorry if this doesn’t suit the ‘dinner party’ rules but I don’t think what the author (or any journalist) is doing is respectful at all.
Leave the ‘death knocks’ to the police and have some respect for the grieving.
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I know Sarah, and she’s the last person asking for sympathy. She’s just honestly writing about something many of us don’t have an insight into. Agree with her or not, at least she bothered to brace a controversial subject with MM readers.
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Rick, these phrases did rather make it sound as if she was asking for sympathy: “There is nothing enjoyable …”; “It is bloody awful”; “ you always feel lousy afterwards”; “it’s hard not to take a piece of their pain away with you”; “It doesn’t get easier”; “as I walk back to the car I still feel lousy”
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Lulu,
Absolutely do not want your sympathy – save that for the families who’ve lost a loved one.
I was simply sharing my feelings on the part of my job I hate, as most journos do.
99% of the time I absolutely love what I do.
Sarah
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That’d be a deal breaker for me… 99% of the time being happy and enjoying work, 1% doing something horrible and from what you’ve described in the article above often causing grieving people more pain… No job or story is worth hurting others over!
Glad to hear this was not a sympathy grab though.
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I too have been a journalist – it’s more accurate to call them death intrusions not death knocks. Death knocks are what the police do to deliver a death message.
I have heard horrific stories of disgusting behaviour by journalists when intruding on someone’s grief. Having said that, you only ever hear about the horrific stories. Other than the TV coverage…we obvoiusly don’t hear of the stories where a family is thankful they have a chance to pay tribute to their loved one, or use it as a warning to others not to chance life and possibly die as well.
Death intrusions certainly have their place, if a journalist is courteous, polite, accepts refusal, and leaves immediately.
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I was actually embarrassed reading this. I found it cringeworthy that someone so far down the food chain of events could be having a pity party for themselves about how difficult it was. Is it heartless that I save my sympathy for the victim, their family, their friends and the emergency services workers? I’m always interested to hear when journalists say that ‘having’ to pry into a grieving family’s life is their job because “the public WANT to know”. I want to know who this public is? Because I can’t think of a single person I know, or have ever known, that sits down to watch the news and sees a horrendous story of a young girl mauled by a shark and thinks “I can’t wait to hear what her grieving father has to say”. It doesn’t happen!! How is knocking on the door of a family whose child was killed in a car accident going to stop another family from going therough the same thing? What a justification of an outrageous intrusion. The INCIDENT (not the family’s grief) is the story…report on that. If a family want to “come out” with their comments and/or a message, that is comepletely different to intruding on their private grief. I think too many journalists aren’t actually good enough to string together a whole story if they don’t include some of the grief porn. It’s not essential. Just report on the story!!!
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How can you feel sorry for the family, paramedics and everyone involved if you don’t know about it in the first place? We talk about a child being killed in a car accident, people only relate to something if it has the human element to it! It is essential to have that in a story so people realise how an action can change the life of a family. And although you say ““I can’t wait to hear what her grieving father has to say” I’m sure you don’t say that, but I bet my money when the family is being quoted or on television your eyes are glued and you feel their pain and hopefully through that you and everyone else that watches takes extra care on the road or maybe you are vigilant about making sure your child buckles up… or you turn to your family and appreciate them more because you don’t have to go through what the family being interviewed has!
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Yeh thanks, but I can appreciate my family by hearing about the terrible INCIDENTS that happen around the world. Not because I need to hear what a grieving parent who has been harrassed has to say. I wasn’t saying don’t report the story. My comment was that alot of the time, the story IS the incident, not the PRIVATE grief of families. Like another comment mentioned, the message or lesson that talking to a grieving family might provide, is not weakened by having to wait a while to get it…
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“We talk about a child being killed in a car accident, people only relate to something if it has the human element to it! ”
Some of us can relate to it by hearing what the police have advised, without needing to see graphic proof & tears.
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Exactly. Take the case of a friend who lost 2 sons in an accident with a drink driver. The story is drink driving. It is about young lives lost and how it can happen to any family. The STORY is not a quote or photo of a pyjama clad, bloodshot eyed, wild haired, blotchy faced, sedative affected, borderline hysterical mother IN HER OWN HOME. What a inflated sense of self importance some journalists have to think that they are responsible for prying into that kind of grief in the interest of public awareness. Ha! Surely the important messages that individuals or families have to share, are far more effective and wide reaching when they are willing to do so. And if they are not willing so be it. It’s not my grieving friend’s JOB to provide other people with the message to cherish their family.
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I’m sure you can Lulu, however for a majority of people they need a human face, not a statistic.
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I disagree. I’m a Journalism student and am dreading doing this in the future but there are cases in which the family having their say has played a vital role in the news report and through liasing with the media the family has gained something. Look at Trayvon Martin – through speaking to the media and reaching an audience his family was able to get their message through that his death was suspicious and should be investigated (the shooter was not initially charged with any crime). Because they talked to the media the family gained a lot of support and the death reached the attention of a large national and international audience as well as politicians, which then resulted in the death being investigated. There are many more examples of this.
And there are other cases in which the family talking to the media about a death or murder has brought more attention to the case and encouraged witnesses or people with information to speak to the police. I think that talking to the family is probably unnecessary in some cases, but certainly not in all cases.
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So don’t do it. Say no to your boss and refuse to knock on the door, don’t even drive down the street.
“As a journalist”, you’ll sooner or later report on some tosser who has done something immoral or just plain rude, and you’ll bag the life out of them if they try the “I’m just doing my job” defence. Yet journalists justify their own sickening actions with the same line.
When will journalists get this through their heads? It’s not ok to knock on the door of a grieving family!!
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“I got my quote, but as I walk back to the car I still feel lousy”
I am lucky to not have been in this situation yet but I cannot imagine what it must be like for grieving people to have journo’s knock on their doors to get a “quote or story. What exactly are you expecting people to say, I just don’t understand how or why someone would want to be so intrusive during such a hard time
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As unsavory as death knocks are, a story like this one, which was awarded a Pulitzer prize today, would not have been as powerful. The human element is vital. “Methadone and the Politics of Pain”. http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/flatpages/specialreports/methadone/methadoneandthepoliticsofpain.html A wonderful, saddening piece.
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Great piece, thanks for sharing.
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I’m glad a journalist has written something about this.
We for so long get bagged for jobs we have to do! I enjoy my job and doing a death knock for me is not about ratings, it’s about getting pivotal messages out to the public in hope that another family don’t go through the same heart ache. I did a story recently about a family who lost their daughter to cot death, heart breaking and by them coming out about this not only gave them a chance to talk about their daughter it also highlighted serious areas of concern, lack of insulation in homes which is a trigger for cot death and loose linen. For me journalism is about giving people a voice to instigate change.
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Why does the story have to be taken on the day they find out about the death.
Will the message be any less important if you just wait a week or 2 after they’ve grieved in private?
I remember watching a swimming safety dvd by Laurie Lawrence where he spoke to parents who had lost young children to drowning. One of them was a one year old in the bath tub. Another was a 2 year old swimming in a dam. These parents had incredibly heart breaking stories to tell. I think it was brave and important for them to share their stories so that other families wouldn’t have to go through what they did. Listening to their stories was gut wrenching. The emotions raw. For the parents who lost their toddler in the dam it had happened about 12 years or so ago. Their story wasn’t stale. It was emotional, relevant and important.
What a ridiculous notion to think that families must tell their story on the day of the death or it has no relevance or importance.
Death knocks aren’t something to be proud of. You make yourself believe this so that you can sleep at night.
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Exactly what I was thinking. I’ve worked as a journo and refused to do death knocks. There’s absolutely no reason to do them so close to the tragedy except for ratings. Be honest, Sarah.
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Aims,
Good on you for standing up to your boss and refusing to do them. Brave girl. And what was your chief of staff’s reaction?
Personally, I didn’t decide to be a reporter to boost ratings. I love telling stories, people stories. It’s what I live for. And why I sat down to write this piece in the first place.
Sarah
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I can explain this a bit, Mary, as I am a journalist too.
Timeliness is one of the crucial newsworthiness factors, along with proximity, tragedy and relativeness.
Unfortunately, people demand up-to-the minute journalism now, so leaving it for a few days would mean the story would cease to have any relevance and would never make the news, so the messages (slow down, don’t do drugs, etc) would never be heard. If it’s not today’s news it’s old news, so you can’t just report it when it becomes convenient.
It’s like the proximity factor. There are millions of people dying in third world countries every day, but since we can’t relate to their lives and it isn’t anyone we might know, people will tune out.
That’s why every time you hear of an international disaster like a tornado or terrorist attack, the number of Australians injured and killed is always the main focus of the report.
At the end of the day, we are just doing our job, and the public are the ones who decide what they want to hear about and how (which is why so much mainstream media is so very ‘tabloid’ now).
There are parts of our job, like the deathknock, which make is really suck some days. It’s not that glamorous, it’s mentally taxing, but it’s our job.
I think there are few professions, besides parking officers and car salesman who get the kind of attitude we get simply for being a journalist. Next time you’re at a social event and someone asks what you do, tell them you’re a journalist and watch them judge the hell out of you.
PS- Such a well-written article, Sarah, and a great way to try to get people to understand the other side of the job. It’s a brave thing to put your name to this kind of article about the true realities of journalism.
Also, this may sound creepy, but when I did work experience years ago at Channel Nine, you gave me a pair of shoes that didn’t fit you and I am wearing them today. Weeeeiiird!
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“Unfortunately, people demand up-to-the minute journalism now, so leaving it for a few days would mean the story would cease to have any relevance and would never make the news”
Really? Take this example:
http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/how-teen-party-ended-in-despair-20120416-1x3ue.html
Are you seriously expecting us to believe that because this is not being reported hours after the tragic event that nobody cares or is interested?
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Sounds like a very weak justification. You commend Sarah for writing about the true realities of journalism. Do you honestly expect us to believe that money, ratings and lining somebody’s back pocket isn’t part of the agenda for doing death knocks. Do you honestly expect us to believe that the only reasons this is done is to ‘save lives’ and provide a community service?
I understand the facts of a story need to reported in the evening news on the day they occur. I’m not so naive as to think the evening news should be filled with month old stories. I just don’t think the families personal comments are needed for a story that day in order for the story to be newsworthy.
I don’t believe for a second that the only reason messages such as ‘slow down and don’t do drugs’ are heard are due to entirely and solely to stories resulting from death knocks.
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Lulu, that example is only newsworthy because they were at the courthouse that day, and I am sure plenty of people would be critical of the fact their picture was taken as they were leaving.
And Mary, if you want newspapers and TV stations reporting news, you must accept that they have to make a profit.
If you read Sarah’s story and look and some of the comments from other journos, you will see that there are varied responses to deathknocks. Some families want to tell their story, some don’t.
A good journalist will take ‘no’ for an answer and walk away. We can’t deny there are some journalists out there who go to far and give us all a bad name. But that’s an argument for another day.
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Miss B,
Ha! Then you’ve walked a day in my shoes then…
Where did you end up working?
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Well played, Sar! A mile indeed.
I’m working in magazines and online now, but thinking about making the transition back to TV or radio soon.
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Here’s a breaking story…….let the family contact the media if they choose, otherwise let a family grieve in private. Surely getting “my quote” is never worth the uninvited intrusion.
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You wouldn’t believe how many times I have heard families say: “they didn’t even contact us for their story” or “I wish I had a chance to tell everyone how wonderful he/she was.”
People often don’t feel their story is worthy and won’t contact the media on their own behalf, but when they are approached in a polite and discreet way they are usually grateful somebody wanted to listen.
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I commented on this post this morning but have come back to it because it has been bothering me all day. I think what really bothers me is the tone of this article – the title and some of the content seems to be asking readers to feel sympathetic toward the writer. That may not have been the intention but that is how it has come across.
Death knocking is wrong. If a family wishes to speak out they can contact the media or do as many do nowadays, start a blog, build a foundation or a scholarship, not be used up and thrown away by the media. When I watch reports on something like the floods or the fire, it is not for the ‘grief porn.’ It is for the stories of survival, the community banding together, the leaders that rise up in the midst of great challenges. Journalists – go and chase these stories, do not hunt down people who are raw and bleeding and struggling to pick up what remains of their lives.
You made a choice to enter your profession, and you make a choice to do death knocks. No one is forcing you to do them – either you genuinely think they’re OK or you are betraying your conscience and compassion in search of money and bylines. It’s on you.
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I am a journalism student so I sympathise with Sarah’s position.
Also I agree wholeheartedtly that sometimes sharing stories about a loved one – whether that be to help others or just because they feel they would like others to hear about that person. I see that a lot in my work with a children’s cancer charity. I have also seen it myself when my partner’s brother was killed in a car accident – it gave our family a lot of closure and happiness to see the media put out a message to other drivers to take more care.
However, I also know a mother whose daughter was murdered and she was absolutely harrassed as she identified the body, attended the funeral and even grieved in her home. She had people parked out the front of her home 24/7. It was disgusting. She was too upset to leave her house and face them, so she remained secluded in her home. It was absolutely disgraceful.
Journalists can blame deadlines, editors, their audience all they want. But at they end of the day THEY are the ones camped outside people’s houses. THEY knew she didn’t want to talk, and anybody, of any profession, should be able to tell when they are crossing a line – and they well an truly did.
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This is somewhat off topic, but the thing that angers and frustrates me is when camera footage is shown of people coming out of an ambulance or helicopter and being wheeled into an emergency department of a hospital. These people are officially patients and they are entitled to confidentiality! They are usually injured, in pain, frightened and not in any way prepared or able to deal with a camera in their face. I have come so close to violently shoving a camera away, and I do not feel that I would be the one acting inappropriately.
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I work in one of the police media units (as well as being an ex journo) who regularly deal with grieving families at what is usually the worst moment of their lives. Over my time in the job I have seen an increase in the number of times we have had to make appeals for journalists to cease their harassment of these families. On one recent occasion we had to issue three circulars to that effect because media would not leave a family alone. Nothing Sarah or any of the journalists who have commented have said makes me believe this is justified in any way. I have consoled families who can’t understand why they can’t be left alone and my heart has broken for them. The emergency services have a good understanding of how the media works and the interest that is likely to exist in the stories of these victims, and it is often made clear early on that there are options that can be pursued. Media units and hospitals can release photos and statements of behalf of a family or facilitate a stand up for those who want to speak. Yet often even when that is done, the family still gets calls because media outlets all want what some one else doesn’t have.
There are some broader questions that should be addressed about why media feel this sort of information is now a necessary part of a story and those who drive ratings and circulation figures by consuming it. Grief porn is indeed an apt description.
It was interesting to read Sarah’s perspective and while I appreciate she endeavours to treat those she encounters with respect and dignity, it is my personal experience that this isn’t indicative of how the majority of media overall behave and that behavior is only getting worse. There are plenty of journalists who will sacrifice their integrity for a front page or a lead.
At the end of the day there is only a necessity for one organisation to make a death knock and that is the police. For a journalist to make one comes down to choice.
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I love everything you wrote!
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How is it a choice when your editor or producer tells you to do it?
Your choice is to be in or be out….of a job.
Part of what Sarah was trying to say is that the deathknock is one part of her job she hates, but has to do. If she says no to deathknocking she probably says goodbye to her job.
There are so many other reasons journos are in the field which keep us here, like our passion for writing and uncovering stories, but sometimes we have to do the un-fun stuff too. Like any job really.
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“Because your editor or producer tells you to do it” is possibly the most gutless response to that question.
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So every journalist that is asked to do a death knock is supposed to refuse to do it (so not to be classified as “gutless” by someone like you) and get fired from their job?
I’d like to see you put in a position where not performing a task will result in you losing your livelihood and see how cleaer cut the situation is then.
How about advertising executives that profit off underming peoples self esteem and making them feel inadequate so they buy products? or employees at pubs and clubs whose pay packets are lined with money people are feeding into poker machines? should they all quit their jobs too?
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We couldn’t have a journalist doing something because it’s right now could we?
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How is it a choice? It’s a moral choice between what is right & what is wrong. I would choose to stay true to my values and beliefs over a job any day.
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Pffft, when you guys make it to the real world, let me know.
Your fairy-land “I stand up for ALL my morals and NEVER do anything in my job if I don’t want to” sounds great, but doesn’t exist in reality.
Do you seriously think journalism is the only job where you sometimes have to do stuff, just because the boss said?
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“Do you seriously think journalism is the only job where you sometimes have to do stuff, just because the boss said?”
No. But I know if I commented anonymously on the internet* about my job, I’d just say “I had to do this because I was told to’ – I wouldn’t then try to argue that I was also doing a public service. You can’t have it both ways.
(*I understand Sarah obviously isn’t anonymous)
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What, so you would harrass a grieving family if you were told to?
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I do a death knock because I believe the family’s words are more powerful than any other.
However if they did say no I would respect that to… I have not been turned away to date.
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I work as a TV journo in Broome, WA. I find up here, we have a lot of unusual, but interesting stories happening almost every week. Just recently, I sent a Facebook message to the brother of a man who fell down a Kimberley gorge and died. I asked, nicely, if he and his family would be happy to talk to me about his brother/their son, as a tribute to his incredible life. Anyway, as my job goes, I (and many other journalists) often don’t expect to hear back from the family. Many times they’ll just ignore us. But that was Friday, and Saturday while I was out shopping I got a call from the man’s father. I froze, expecting him to start screaming at me, but instead he thanked me for the message. He said he was grateful I had shown interest in his son’s life, when many hadn’t since he’d died the weekend before. I was shocked, and said we could do the interview on Monday (over the phone, as they live in QLD). The family all had me on loudspeaker on Monday and as I asked questions about their sons life, they all answered when they felt neccessary, when they wanted to remember something about him and tell me about it. I was tearing up – yes I am a genuinely nice, kind person with a heart, believe it or not, and their stories were beautiful. They were so proud of him – he travelled the world, working as a councillor in Thailand, China and many other countries, as well as being an all round nice guy. With a lovely girlfriend, who also spoke a bit to me over the phone. They sent me photos and thanked me after I sent an online link to the story, which they then forwarded to family in England who really appreciated seeing, what they called, such a nice tribute to him. My point is, to those who say ‘people will go to the media if they want to tell their story’ – how would this family have been able to find me? They told me the whole process had been cathartic for them and were so happy they’d done it. And I’m happy, and unashamed, that I asked them. I still don’t like this part of my job, but I believe that the way I go about it, people can say no and I’ll leave it, or say yes and I can try and help make the grief process a little better for them.
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I asked the question below, is there a way to leave some kind of calling card without being intrusive? I have no doubt that many families want to share stories of their loved ones I just don’t think that should be forced upon them on their doorstep. By contacting them the way you did, they had the opportunity to ignore you, you were not intrusive. I respect that.
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Yes. Very different sending a fbook message or a letter than to arrive at someone’s doorstep and be in their face.
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I follow the blog “an inch of grey”, (i was following before she was struck by tragedy) Anna’s 12 year old son drowned in a freak accident. This is the story of what happened, as told by her. It is lengthy but if you skip down to the bottom she talks of having to be shielded from news crews on the night of his death and of running out of the funeral home screaming having just seen her son for the first time only to find a reporter waiting for her across the street (thankfully the reporter didn’t see her).
http://aninchofgray.blogspot.com.au/2011/10/bridge-one-terrible-night.html
As another mother, I don’t want to see that personal grief when she chooses not to share it. I understand that me sharing this blog feeds into people’s desire to observe grief but when the person who is grieving chooses to share, it changes the intent.
I know we as a society are hungry for this type of media but we need to stop. These are real people, in the darkest times of their lives. If they choose to share their story with the media then they should do so at their own choosing. Could the media not leave a calling card allowing the family to make the contact?
I respect that this is a part of your job Sarah, I just don’t agree with it.
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It’s interesting how so many people on here enjoy getting on their high horse on here, saying all journalists and their editors care about is ratings and how disgusting it is they’re using these people’s grief for their own personal gain.
Yet at the same time what stories get the most hits on news websites? These stories of human tragedy. If the general public does not want to know about these stories, why do SBS and ABC news bulletins (which tend to focus on more ‘high brow’ news) get far lower ratings than the commercial channels?
The reason the ABC do not have to report these stories to the same extent is because they dont have to worry about HOW MANY people are watching.
The day people stop wanting to read, listen to or watch stories about human grief and suffering is the day journalists will stop having to do death knocks and will no longer have to confront these horrible realities of human existance on a daily basis.
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Could not agree more. And for those that are getting on your high horse you have to realise in most cases these stories help prevent or highlight serious issues that can stop other families from going through the same heart ache.
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Well done to you Sarah on such an honest post.
After finishing a journalism degree, I chose a career specifically in lifestyle television because I couldn’t stomach the idea of death knocks.
Ironically a decade later I found myself producing on the medical factual series, RPA, where I dealt with life and death on a daily basis. I too had days where I was on the receiving end of people’s raw and angry emotions. It was hard, I won’t lie. But it was my job and my feelings would always pale in comparison to what I saw people going through there every day.
But the best part? My overwhelming memories of working on the show was seeing the wonderful parts of the human spirit – the love between people, the resilience, the strength and the zest for life that I was lucky enough to witness. I wish we saw more of this in the media every day.
For that reason, I would encourage more members of the public to support the ‘good news’ stories. Comment on the stories that lift your spirt, share the links that make you smile. Send a message to mainstream media that these stories are what you want to hear more about.
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This is the main reason I decided I didn’t want to be a journalist – week 3 of uni we were discussing death knocks, and I completely seized up and was like NO. I could not do that. Not for my job. Hell, I couldn’t even ask questions to somebody who had lost their pet fish! There were other bits of journalism I didn’t like as well obviously, but thats the biggest!
It sounds like such a hard job, and I take my hat off to you Sarah, for being a respectful journalist – if someone knocked on my door after a tragedy, I would prefer that it was you!
I don’t like all these people abusing journalists and the media – please do some research first, and don’t be so cynical! we’re all human beings. All the journalists I know are lovely human beings, who love their job and have tremendous amounts of empathy.
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I too find it offensive to watch a journalist thrust a camera in the face of someone who is grieving and ask them how they are feeling. This approach is disgusting.
However, I appreciate a thoughtful, respectful and professional journalist who enables a grieving family to tell their story.
I watched and read hours and hours of coverage of the black saturday fires, and queensland floods because i felt I owed it to the victims both alive and passed to try and understand what they went through. Without journalists like Sarah I couldn’t have done this. And the grieving families who wanted to tell their stories wouldn’t have been able to.
This is a complex issue, but the public demands news and facts. Therefore, i believe the issue shuld be about how these approaches are made, not whether or not they happen, and Sarah appears to be someone who handles this with the sensitivity it requires.
I hope that I never find myself in a situation where my door is being knocked, but if I am I would hope it is Sarah, showing compassion and respecting my answer.
Sarah, I think you are incredibly brave to have written this article. Thank you for bringing to my attention something I had not given any thought before.
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Thank you Sarah for the very honest account of being a journo.
I respect you and think you are awesome at your job, whether it be stories like this, stories about fashion or travel, you definitely have a great knack at telling a yarn.
I studied journalism because I wanted to be able to help people tell stories and relay facts. Death knocks are the crappy part and I don’t honestly believe people would say ‘no’ to their boss if they were asked to do a task (that wasn’t illegal).
I was dismayed recently when a big news story about suicide involved a journo taking pictures at the man’s work, his funeral and at his home (the death wasn’t at home) totally invading his family’s personal space and letting the rest of the neighbourhood know where this person lived. But, we craved it. You can say you won’t read it but i guarantee, the top 5 news stories with the most hits online involve this type of coverage.
As someone who works in an area involving road safety. Every fatality is personally felt and can be prevented if people just didn’t speed, drink/drug drive, drive when they are tired, wore their seatbelts. The stories of these families make it real for people. These are the stories that make people think or change their behaviour.
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If people wanted to tell their tragic stories they would reach out. I personally think this kind of behaviour is unforgivable.
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Guys – Sarah has been honest and generous to share this very personal account of something none of us would otherwise have insight into.
She is reading all the comments and responding where she can.
By all means debate what she says but any comments regarding who she is or being personally abusive will be deleted immediately.
So keep your manners in.
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Sarah, I have a legitimate question for you: why is it that death knocks are routine for deaths that are accidental or murders yet not for suicides?
A family friend committed suicide and the family were told that as it was by his own hand that there would be no media interference (for want of a better word) and this was correct. They never received a death knock from anyone other than the police. Why is that?
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I don’t say this to be insensitive, but it’s probably because it doesn’t sell them newspapers.
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There are strict guidelines for media reporting of suicides. Publication of details of particular suicide (like the place where it happened or the method used) can often lead to a spike in copy-cat incidents.
This website might answer your question in more detail.
http://www.mindframe-media.info/
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“There are strict guidelines for media reporting of suicides. ”
The cynical among us will suspect that because those guidelines restrict how the death can be reported, death porn media will be less interested because they can’t wring tears out of it.
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I’m not Sarah but I have a journalism degree.
Until very recently it was part of the journalism code that suicides were not reported. Literally on the first day of my degree our lecturer said “we do not report on suicides”.
However this is starting to change now with the Australian Press Council (the peak industry body) releasing new guidelines last year on the reporting of suicide. The guidelines basically said as long as reporting wasn’t graphic or disrespectful, suicide should be covered.
I personally agree with this movement whole heartedly as I think not reporting on suicide further stigmatises mental illness and makes people feel more alone when dealing with depression and other mental illnesses. Suicide is the biggest killer of men aged 18-35 but you’d never guess that from watching the news. So I think changing the rules is a positive thing. Of course there are arguments against it as well.
Hope that answers your question.
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The media really avoids reporting on suicide because they want to avoid copycats that see how much attention the death received. Generally suicide is only reported on in extraordinary cases.
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I think this is a necessary evil. It’s so all the people who might usually think ‘this won’t happen to me’ and then drink & drive, or take a pill, or do something that can have far reaching consequences; stop and think before acting.
I know many people who have done things like this, and I wonder how they would take it if one of their children was injured or killed by someone doing the same thing. I hope that by seeing another family’s grief that they would think twice before doing it again themselves.
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As a journalist who has had to death knock, I have been on the receiving end of some pretty nasty comments (mostly from people outside the grieving family) but I’ve also been thanked for my integrity and compassion.
Firstly, not all journalists are knocking at the door on the day of the tragedy. We often leave it days, often until after the funeral, sometimes weeks.
More often than not the stories we write are TRIBUTES, intended to remember and honour the person, not to hurt the family, and the families are often grateful.
And we don’t always knock at the door. Sometimes it’s a phone call, and it is not often we go directly to the mother, or father or husband or wife, often it’s to an uncle or family friend to ask permission to contact the family.
Sometimes we attend public memorials, as opposed to knocking on the door. Often we ask the police if the family is willing to comment. And I would NEVER hassle a person in grief. You be polite, compassionate and discreet and if they are too distressed you leave a card and then leave them alone.
Secondly, we don’t write stories for circulation or ratings. Our editors demand stories for circulation, but we’re not in it for the figures. We are STORY-TELLERS. We became journalists not to make money (trust me) and not to hurt people, but to tell the stories of people’s lives, to tell truthful, honest stories and often they are painful, but if we stopped reporting tragedy, how would we keep our integrity?
Police officers and magistrates give us the information for these confronting stories because YES there is a message in them. It’s a message to slow down on the road, stop taking drugs, or ask your friend if he’s ok before it’s too late. But if we report the same nagging story from the police or the courts without a personal element you’ll turn away, you won’t read it, and the message will be lost. It’s hard to watch because it is tragedy, it’s intended as a message and yeah it’s not real fun, but if you want to watch cartoons get Nickelodeon.
Death knocks are a delicate and unfortunate part of an otherwise fulfilling career.
Not all journalists are the same and not all act with integrity, but by the sounds of it Sarah Harris is not a vulture, she’s a talented journalist who has bravely decided to put her NAME in the firing line of a very contentious issue for the sake of an honest debate.
It’s something journalists do with their bylines every day, unlike most of the anonymous commenters on here whose opinions apparently don’t deserve a real name.
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interesting reply- you sound like a lovely person
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“unlike most of the anonymous commenters on here whose opinions apparently don’t desrve a real name”
What you are really criticising, with this rude comment, is the whole setup of Mia’s website. This site gets so many people joining in so many interesting and thoughtful discussions, because it doesn’t require you to use your real name. That’s why so many people have psuedonyms, and the body of their writing on here, creates an unofficial profile of them, for this site. People, like me, who read here everyday, come to recognise many of the regulars, and I don’t need to know who they are in real life. Mia’s strict rules about respect ensure that the usual dangers of anonymous internet comments, aren’t a concern here. I believe that this clever setup is a big reason for Mamamia’s success.
Good for Sarah for using her real name, if she wishes to be a public identity, but this does not make her or her opinions any more worthy than any of the ‘anonymous’ commenters on this site.
I don’t understand the unnecessary comments on here about ‘anonymous’ contributions, and guess what? Sue is not my real name! It looks like it’s a real name, but it’s not. I’m just as anonymous as someone calling themselves “anonymous”. We have no way of knowing whose name is real or not on this site, and it doesn’t matter one bit, because of the careful way Mia has managed the site. I think Mia would lose large numbers of the people who visit her site to have polite discussions, if the expectation was that you used your real name.
The reason I choose not to use my real name on here is not because I don’t think my opinions deserve a real name; actually I think that I make valid contributions to the discussions on here. The reason I don’t use my real name is because I am an extremely private person, and I don’t want to be publicly known at all, in any way, on any form of media. And this is because I have a great fear, based on the personal experience of someone close to me, of the way the media’s power can be abused. This extreme privacy is the exact same reason that I can’t relate at all to this idea that the public deserves to share in the private grief of victims of tragedy.
The rest of your comment provided an interesting insight, and thank you for sharing your thoughts. I agree that Sarah seems like a lovely person, although I had never heard of her until today.
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Hi Sue,
You raise an excellent point about online safety and privacy.
I only meant that Sarah was brave to put her name on this story without fear of retribution. And as you point out, that’s not an easy thing to do. This is actually the first time I’ve commented but I love what Mia is doing and she’s an inspiration as a writer. If I could make a living writing for a site like this I’d be a happy lady, but these jobs are few and far between so until then, back to the news room.
I wasn’t trying to imply an anonymous opinion was invalid (it’s democracy). I was just noting her integrity. How would you have reacted to the story if it was written by an anonymous journalist?? Would have had less impact…
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These are also good points. Thanks for replying to me.
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I watch SBS World News so I can avoid this sort of crap. How is this news. Honestly, 9 times out of 10 the death shouldn’t even be news (the commercial networks will spend 5 minutes on a guy killed in a car crash, and won’t even mention say, the increasing likelihood of the US starting a war with Iran, or they’ll dedicate one sentence to an earthquake in Pakistan that killed thousands). The reactions of family, friends and neighbours is so far from being news it’s not funny.
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Nope, sorry, this story makes me sick. If that was my job, I would choose another one. Nothing can justify trying to profit and feed off someone else’s grief. Just revolting. I was vaguely aware of this, but now am very aware, and quite shocked.
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I have to say there are soooo many parts to being a journalist. I think everyone has one part (if they’re lucky – often waaaay more than one) of their job they hate or they wish they didn’t have to do.
If you loved 99% of your job? Would you leave it?
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If the 1% of my job that I hated required me to ‘death knock’? Yeah, I’d leave it.
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1% of your job harassing grieving families? Yes, I’d leave it.
Or tell my boss I wouln’t do it. If enough journos actually said “no” the bosses would stop asking for this disgusting behaviour.
Just coz it is your job doesn’t mean it is ok. Nazis rounded up and murdered Jews – they were doing their job. It doesn’t make it ok.
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Death knocks are a part of my brother’s job too – he is a cop. He always said this part of his job was easier when he worked in the city but now working in a small town, he often knows the families behind the door. For the media turning up on doorsteps to interview grieving families, it is a fine line. It is a news story and part of their job and there is a fine line between waiting a respectable amount of time (whatever that is) and getting the story/beating rival journos to the story. I hate seeing people hysterical when being interviewed after a trauma and particularly those tacky 6.30 tv journos who inevitably ask “so, how do you feel” in their fake sympathetic tone.
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I’ve stopped watching the vast majority of news programs because of this type of ‘journalism.’ I don’t need to see or hear a grieving family to know that they are in pain – and I think it is incredibly invasive, insensitive and inappropriate for journalists to approach families in this way.
I’ve read comments that say ‘vote with your remote’ but have found that so often these ‘interviews’ with families are thrown in with other news reports and I do not have a choice about whether I want to watch them – thus I don’t watch many news programs at all. If I want more information about a story, I look online, where I can avoid the ‘death knock’ interviews.
I do think that ther are places and programs where families can choose to share their stories when they are ready and if they feel that they might be able to help others by doing so. I have watched these stories – I will never forget seeing Jonty Bush on Australian Story and feeling totally awed by her strength and compassion. But, she chose to tell her story, in a setting, time and that was right for her..
I have heard many people say that they did things for their jobs that they had no choice but to do – but my experience has always been that it is not until people stop doing what they know is not right that anything will change. It is too easy for journalists to blame the ‘public’ for continuing this practice, but what’s the worst that will happen if they were to stop completely?
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Sarah, firstly I understand this is not your decision to do death knocks most journalists probably wouldn’t choose to do this if their job was not dependent on this. Secondly, I can also understand your need to justify this act as doing some good for the families, otherwise I guess it would be hard to live with yourself and face up and do this when demanded by your boss. However, the upper media powers need to know that this is so not justifiable and as a member of the viewing public I have no desire to see this at all. Grief porn is completely distasteful the ugliest, ugliest side of journalism ( and to be honest journalism has a lot if ugliness to choose from). Under no circumstances can you kid yourself that this is for the benefit of the grief stricken family. As it has been pointed out if the family want to talk THEY can contact the media. Yes they need to talk but they should not be badgered and the media are absolutely not the best people at this time to talk to, a counsellor, friends just about anyone else in the world would be better. Anyone who is not profiting from their grief and viewing their pain as a sick form of entertainment. I do have sympathy for journalists who are abused for doing this, not because the act itself is not abhorent, but because it is someone trying to keep a job. No doubt the gutless bosses that demand this if their employees are untouched by the abuse and have no idea what a disgusting thing they are demanding of them. Sarah my criticism is not directed at you, I am sorry this is part of your job but your bosses need to know the ‘death knocks’ ate not in anyway acceptable ever ever ever. Stop asking journalists to do this, sone lines should never be crossed!
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Sorry for the typos, the downside of iPhones. Can I also say the other ugly side to this is it makes me sick to the stomach when news services promote themselves based on their coverage of a major tragedy. I instantly switch off, I find it in such poor taste.
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Mia wrote about this exact thing very eloquently last year http://www.mamamia.com.au/news/why-cant-we-turn-away-from-grief/ It’s an interesting topic that’s worth discussing.
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I’m surprised at how physically ill this story is making me feel. I’m trying to put myself in the place of someone who has heard the most devastating news and then hears a knock at the door. Ah, great, a friend /relative has arrived to help make sense of this horror – no wait, it’s a stranger, with hair and make up done, ready for filming asking me for an interview/comment. I don’t think I’d take great comfort from the look of discomfort / guilt / concern on their face. But wait, this isn’t the first stranger to come to my door, another 3,4,5 or more have beaten them to it – maybe one of them has even made it to the door before the police.
It doesn’t matter how polite or respectful you may be, when you go to someone’s home unannounced and uninvited in these circumstances, you are invading their privacy. I don’t need to hear a grief stricken person’s words to feel their pain and or the horror of a situation.
I still can’t find any reasoning to support this practice as being in any way necessary for society, it’s just something that’s ugly and morbid. I dare say the grieving people that have experienced one of these visits are feeling a little more than “lousy” themselves. Yes, a lot of jobs have their grubby sides, but you choose whether or not to be a part of it – you have a choice, it’s not a necessity. If it doesn’t sit comfortably then perhaps you’re in the wrong job.
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Think about it this way; if a member of your family had been murdered wouldn’t you want to help find the killer? And if your family member died in a hit and run, wouldn’t you like to bring guilt to the perpetrator? Journos have helped solve cases with their independent research so I think this is a necessary evil…
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I fail to see how a journalist going to a family’s home within hours of such an event would help in these circumstances. I’d prefer to leave the research and investigation to the police and should they deem it necessary, then I’d be part of any media interviews. Yes, some investigative journalists can be worth their weight in gold however, I’m sure that they’d agree that interviewing someone in shock or wracked by grief is not going to provide the most worthwhile assistance in solving a crime. Leave the death knocks to the police.
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And then there’s the tweets that suck you in….
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I have often wondered how reporters and especially newsreaders can hold back their emotions when reporting something completely heartbreaking. Is there a secret they teach you at uni to help you hold it all in?
I think the media have a job to do and that is to report all news, good and bad. People have a hunger for information. Thats life. If I find a story too upsetting I change the channel until its over.
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I understand your average journalist is under alot of pressure from editors but pretending this is for anything other than self intrest on behalf of the journalist and the media organisation that they represent. Newspapers and TV news are about two things: circulation and ratings. You say you are helping people tell their stories? Maybe you should wait for them to come to you? Oh no, no one will do that because well, what if they go to another paper/network??
I am not saying that newpapers and networks can’t care about circulation or ratings, of course not but it just really annoys me when the people who work for them pretend that isn’t their main motivation. Not the only but certainly the main one. And the problem is that so many are willing to do whatever they need to do to get stories, photo’s or information to get the high ratings or the high circulation. And then, when people call them out on it they say ‘oh it’s in the public interest’. No it’s in your interest.
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Death-knock yarns are always the most popular yarns on our news site. You can all say you don’t read it, must be someone else clicking on those links…
I think there’s a disconnect here for a lot of people with the finished product and how the story is obtained in the first place. No one likes to do them but if you are respectful, polite and leave when asked, surely this is the best way?
I do think it’s too simplistic – you journos – to just say you are doing your job. You (we) are all totally complicit and I think responsible, to a degree. But we do what we do because in our experience, when it comes down to the hard numbers, those stories are what readers want to read about.
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This comment makes very little sense, unless you say who you are, and what news site you are talking about.
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I think it would probably be true of almost all news sites. The most awful gruesome stories always get the most clicks.
What does that say about us as a society?
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I agree Miah this is a sad reflection on us as a society; however, I don’t buy it as a valid excuse for this behavior. There is also a huge demand for hard drugs but this does not mean drug dealers are blameless and should be allowed to continue. Not to trivialize this specific issue but these excuses that I am seeing from people supporting this practice because there is a demand to me seems reminiscent of editors defending photoshopping because that is what the public want. I would like to see some media executives be brave and make a decision to end such practiced and put it to the public test. Personally I would watch a news service that reported tragic news whilst respecting the privacy of victims.
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“It’s my job”?
You’re kidding aren’t you?
There’s no excuse for sticking a camera in a grieving person’s face, it’s particularly weak of you to use the Nuremburg defencew to justify your actions too.
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Shane,
Did you actually read the article?
Where did I say I just walk up to the front door with the camera rolling?
Sigh.
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Sarah, I meant ‘camera’ in a metaphorical sense.
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Hey everyone,
Firstly, thanks for taking the time to read my piece. Thanks too, to those of you – on both sides – who’ve left thoughtful, intelligent and passionate (!) responses.
This was a really difficult, honest piece to write. Every job has its grubby elements. Thankfully, death knocks are not a daily (or even monthly) duty for me – otherwise I’d be looking for work elsewhere.
Sarah
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Actually Sarah, I don’t think every job does have grubby elements. You have chosen to do an exciting job, with lots of positives, knowing that it also has grubby elements. I’m a teacher – there are no grubby elements in my job, and that’s one of the reasons I chose it. I can’t think of any grubby elements for nurses or GPs either, for example.
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Sarah, the two things I don’t envy with your job; the death knocks and choosing what to wear each day…
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Ha! Believe me, we cop the same amount of vitriol over our wardrobe choices too!
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People want to see heroes, ones that save the day; people want to know there is hope at the end of a hard day.
A journo’s job is to supply that mythology to the people.
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I have been on the other side of the door for police death knocks for my grandparents, my boss and his wife and my fiancé (all in different situations) and having had to hear that information it was simply devastating I can say that I don’t think i would have wanted to speak to the media at the time and am glad that they never sought me (or our families) out but weeks later when the raw grief has passed (even years later) I can say that I wish that someone had wanted to hear our story of the loved ones we had lost the most loving grandparents who had moved from England to Australia as 10pound Poms my grandfather who lied about his age so that he didn’t have to retire because he loved working and swelled with pride when he was asked to be the plumbing foreman on the New Australian Parliament house in Canberra. The story of my boss & his wife who orphaned their three boys but were the most beautiful people and the love of my life who died and left me in a way I could never have imagined.
The thing is though if you don’t talk when the media ask you to and share those details about their lives as though they mattered to more than just you then you don’t get that chance later. I know I could write their story and one day I will write it down to share with my children.
If you don’t speak up and say those things like she was the best big sister or the most awesome boyfriend or he wasn’t speeding they can’t speak for themselves anymore and you live with the added pain that ppl just make up what ever they want.
I am not saying that I agree with journo death knocks but I do think there is another side of it and I am not sure it is as cut and dried as they shouldn’t do it.
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This is a great, honest post. As a journalist of five years I have also done my fair share of death knocks and although I feel horrible disturbing people at their time of grief there are a few things I remember each time to get me through it. They might help the public understand a bit more too?
- The majority of death knocks I do are appreciated by family who want to pay tribute to their loved ones.
-Often family want to make sure what goes out in the public is accurate and told from a close family member rather than a distant friend or neighbour.
- It personally informs the family that a story about their loved one will be in the newspaper/on the tele. If I lost someone in a tragic event of public interest I would rather be given the opportunity to respond than be shocked to read a story in the paper the next day.
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I no longer watch the news or buy newspapers due to journalists making “news” out of people dying. Five years ago I lost a male friend who had been like a brother to me. He had been my brothers best friend.His sister and I are like sisters. Our families grew up together, known each other since 1987.
He died in a head on car accident, as did his 2 passengers. His mum and sister had the police knock on the door in the wee hours of the morning to break the terrible news. A photo of the car wreck was in the front page of the courier mail that morning. The paper had gone to print with the photo without any of the families permission, heck not even all the family had been notified by 6 am when the paper went on sale. I found out about the paper the next day as my dad tried to hide it from us as he didnt want us to the graphic image of his car under the truck. As far as I’m aware his mum has never seen it as no body showed her.
How on earth is this news? I stick to online papers like the Australian or listen to radio national to get news these days as they at least try to just stick to a few basic facts and dont have images of weeping mothers and fathers and photos of people crushed to death in their cars.
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