Thursday, August 15, 2013

How Much Do We Need To Hear?

.... more accurately - How much do we have the right to hear?
When news reports air about tragic circumstances, why is it OK to air the 911 tapes on EVERY major news outlet? I understand the public's "right to know", but when are the rights of the public eclipsed by the rights of the victims to privacy?
I have often wondered and worried about this and it was once again swept out of the dust-filled corners of my  mind this week, when a tragic plane crash prompted the media to air audio clips of a distraught mother's call to 911 upon the realization that her two daughters were in the room of her house into which a plane crashed.
Are not her primal screams private? 
It just felt wrong to be invading her personal horror that way.
How is this legal and even if it is legal, how is this ethical?