[27
NOV 00] CWN COMMENT
Media Must Make Amends For Crash Frenzy
The
sickening sight of mangled wreckage heralding the end of five young
lives has horrified a community and made the local media unpopular.
The
car crash that killed five students from the same college has
decimated the lives of family, friends and staff who knew them.
Sadly,
the scale and horror of the crash has also made the incident one
that is newsworthy, and in an increasingly competitive world, the
rush has been on to find out more information about the victims.
Within
minutes of the crash the police were trying to stop details of the
car involved in the accident leaking out. The Hillman Imp was so
distinctive that it would be obvious who was driving to those who
knew the lads.
Still,
aware that the story would generate huge interest, and to try and
cut off the media frenzy, the details of the deceased were released
far quicker than is common in these circumstances.
Those
at today’s press conference complained at the scale of intrusion
over the weekend.
Newspapers
will argue that the accident will interest and concern people, and
they are merely reporting what their readers need and want to know.
Five
people died in that incident on Friday. Four people were killed in a
rail crash that brought the country’s network to a standstill.
If
anything positive can be gleaned from this terrible tragedy it
should be the chance, through the media, to make drivers, residents
and policy-makers realise how dangerous Warwickshire’s roads are.
Regardless
of the circumstances that caused this crash, people should be made
aware of the huge death toll on the county’s roads each year, and
if that prevents another accident then it will be a small saving
grace.
SEE
[27 NOV 00] FIVE TEENAGERS
KILLED IN HORRIFIC CRASH
SEE
[27 NOV 00] STUDENTS
WEEP AS THEY RECALL 'ENTHUSIASTIC' FRIENDS
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