08 July, 2009

Can reporting on death be objective?

Death is a sensitive issue that is dealt with in various ways by different people. Everyone knows that death happens but try by all means to avoid the topic at.The way in which each family handles funeral arrangements may be different from others. Having an extravagant, big funeral is fine but it might leave the family left behind in debt. If a person has made arrangements regarding how they want to be buried it is fine but if not the family should decide.

Sometimes the media interfere with the privacy of the deceased, especially if the person is a celebrity. Journalists should not be subjective but objective when reporting death because they may have not liked the person and feel a sense of relief that (s)he is no more. It all boils down to the ethics that a journalist should abide by when reporting on death.

I think there is a disadvantage to have glamorous funeral like Doves Funeral Palour. Besides the finances I find that it is too much of an effort to go too extreme for a person who has passed on, who will not even realise how much one has done for them just to have a funeral.

A person may feel guilty for not being a part of the life of the deceased and feel by giving them an expensive funeral serves as some sort of closure and help them sleep at night.

Samukelisiwe-FJP

No comments: