Fairness At An Unfair Time

Something stuck in my mind after Swissair crash off Peggy's Cove in 1998. I saw an interview with some of the relatives of victims, and they were blaming the pilots for the accident, saying they could have done more to prevent the accident.

Since the pilots died along with everyone else on the plane, that was a ridiculous and unfair thing to say. But I don't blame them for saying it; it's quite understandable given what they've been through. In sure I'd do no better if someone stick a microphone in my face right after losing loved ones in such tragic circumstances.

Which makes me wonder, do reporters have a responsibility to victims and their families to not quote them when they are in such a state?  We often think of fairness to the grieving in terms of giving them privacy, but perhaps we also have a responsibility to portray them fairly as well. I'm sure those people now feel terrible after what they said about men who tried to save their loved ones, and were consigned to the same fate. A kinder thing for everyone involved would have been to give them some time before taking to them.

Of course, I'm thinking about this because of the continuing coverage of the disappearance of flight MH370. I understand that the poor handling of the situation by the Malaysian government is a big part of the story, and the families of those on the plane would certainly want their complaints made public. But I also worry that they may point blame at someone who doesn't deserve it, just making the situation worse for everyone. 

In this case, it's a fine line between giving a voice to the victims and giving them an opportunity to embarrass themselves.  And frankly, I doubt the media would care about the difference anyway.  So we in the audience are just going to have to approach the story with a lot of empathy.