The vultures are circling

I guess this is a trend, though it is nothing new. But it seems that lately all local newscasts promote are "interviews" with people who are victims, usually those who have lost family members to violent crimes or accidents. Tears flow, voices crack and people break down as we watch terribly intrusive reporters throw salt on wounds. Yes, we have to know what the family of a car wreck victim is thinking before the body is cold. And anchors tease these stories in an overly dramatic way.

This is news?

Every story seems to use the phrase "seeking closure" (and my, aren't you helping someone achieve that by sticking a camera in someone's face at a funeral.) Some packages actually feature the reporter asking the world's stupidest question, "How do you feel?" (Oh, just great. We just buried a family member and thought we'd go out to the movies now. Wanna tag along?)

Has common courtesy simply disappeared? Do News Directors actually think these stories have any news value? And please explain to me how stories like this affect the viewer.

It is one thing to do a tribute to someone who has tragically passed on. I've seen some wonderfully moving pieces on fallen firefighters, cops or soldiers that were done tastefully without being intrusive. Pieces that focused on how people lived, rather than how they died. Pieces primarily shot before the funeral so as not to be intrusive into someone's very personal grief. But to simply bang on the door of someone who has suffered a great loss and get that person to cry on camera really crosses the line.

You're not helping people achieve the elusive "closure" by putting them on television. I have a good friend who lost a family member years ago to violent crime, and he's never gotten over it. Closure doesn't really exist when something precious is taken from you. The emptiness never goes away.

Put yourself in the position of the person who has been the victim. If you lost a loved one, would you want a reporter banging on your door? And would you want to tell the world about it?

It's not news. Stop covering it.