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Media Watch slams Nine News “ambush”

Nine News Perth comes under fire after naming a deceased child and interviewing primary children outside a school.

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A Nine News report was the subject of Media Watch last night after interviewing primary school children following the tragic death of a six year old.

A child died and two others were injured following an accident during the Donnelly Rally in south-west Western Australia on May 10th.

But Media Watch‘s Paul Barry slammed reporter Jerrie Demasi after Nine became the first media outlet to name the child while reporter Jess Keily proceeded to ask for comment outside Dal-yellup Primary -without blurring the faces of children interviewed.

“Yes. They had only found out that morning … Because Channel Nine had told them,” said Barry.

One mother told ABC: “She said they were doing a tribute. At no point did she say she was from the news. Up to the point she spoke to my son, he had not cried about it. I felt completely ambushed. Under no circumstance would I have talked to them, or let my son speak to them, if I knew it was the news.”

Nine is adamant that parents were told it was a News reporter and that children already knew the name of the deceased.

But police had not released his name, the media had not reported it, and two mothers told Media Watch they did not know.

Dal-yellup Primary School, Principal, Gary Quinn, says Nine ambushed the children and asked the reporter to leave.

“This was more about having a crying child to put on the news that night than assisting the community at the start of the grieving process,” he told ABC.

But Shaun Menegola, News Director, Nine Perth, said, “We asked the parents if they were happy for the children to say anything. The parents of all the children we spoke to gave consent. Had we known there was a subsequent problem, had someone asked us to withdraw their interview, we would have.

“We’re very, very sorry if this has caused any grief.”

In 2011 ACMA stepped up its rules regarding invasion of privacy, including in relation to children. It noted parental consent alone will not always be sufficient for a broadcaster to comply with its code privacy obligations and there may be circumstances where a person of ordinary sensibilities would consider the use of material that invades a child’s or vulnerable person’s privacy to be highly offensive.

In 2012 the parents of Molly Lord, who died tragically in a quad bike accident earlier in New South Wales, campaigned for “Molly’s Law” to make it illegal for media to intrude on grieving families.

10 Responses

  1. I don’t blame Ch.9 because Ch.9 is just a chunk of spectrum space and has no physical presence. I blame Station STW-Perth for this gross and unwarranted intrusion into the lives of the people affected by this tragedy.

  2. I think it’s also important to note that one of the children interviewed was being held, and coaxed by his mother in just what to say.

    I’d hardly call that “ambush”.

  3. I’m really not surprised. I am convinced that commercial TV ‘news’ hacks are under pressure to make their submissions ’emotional’, ‘dramatic’, ‘tragic’ and ‘shocking’ in order get them broadcast by appealing to the more voyeuristic members of the audience. It is disgusting how they use other people’s suffering to promote themselves and their ‘news’ shows.

  4. I don’t watch Nine so wasn’t aware that they had done this but I’m sad to say that it doesn’t surprise me one bit. Disgustingly cold insensitive predatory behaviour.

    There really needs to be a proper regulatory mechanism whereby the network and the reporter can be properly punished for this sort of thing. ACMA getting a commitment for more staff training 12 months down the track is not the answer.

    1. The kids had to learn of the death of their friend, not by/from their “mum” or the schoolteacher, but by an intrusive Station STW-Perth. Media Watch was quite right in what it said. I hope Station STW-Perth gets a severe reprimand from ACMA, but knowing ACMA I suspect STW will get a “rap over the knuckles with the soft end of a feather-duster”.

  5. What human being thinks it is in anyway acceptable for a news crew to go up to six year olds and ask them about the death of their friend? There is no scenario in which that would be acceptable. None.

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