I think there’s too much detail in the reporting of the Vincent
Tabak trial. Just yesterday there was a headline about Jo Yeates' mother crying in
court. Why is that a headline? Hasn’t her mother been through enough already?
Why is something like that deemed newsworthy?
I suppose I’m like most people, I’ve been following the
trial in the news and have been reading about the evidence. But when I read a
description of the photos of Jo’s body I felt uncomfortable. And it feels
uncomfortable writing that. It’s too much. We don’t need to know it. I don’t think
it’s in the public interest and there’s comes a point where the feelings of Jo’s
family and friends need to be respected. And Jo herself needs to be respected
too.
As a culture we have a fascination with murder. Stories of
an innocent girl dying at the hands of a brute have featured in literature and
art for hundreds of years. Crime is a huge genre and it’s hard to switch
the telly on in the evenings without coming across a murder storyline. It’s why
CSI is so popular, and the rest of them. Hundreds of TV programmes about
murder: too many to mention. And books too.
I’m wondering if our love of detective programmes and crime
novels desensitises us. The reporting of the moments of Jo’s death and the
aftermath is almost like watching or reading a crime thriller. We take it all in and feel
shocked by the depravation and horror. We almost crave it. But there’s an
important difference: Jo was a real person.
I think it’s time to limit what the press can say about
murder trials. I support a free press but I think the media should only report what’s
in the public interest when it comes to people's personal lives. By all means say what happened and let us know how long
Vincent Tabak is banged up for. But spare us the details, it’s not fair. I honestly don’t
know how I’d be able to carry on if something like that happened to my
daughter.
