Planet Stupid Puts Questions to Grieving Father (RTE News).

mike65

http://dynamic.rte.ie/quickaxs/news1pm.smil

Fast foward to 12.00 mins how many stupid questions can a bunch of hacks ask in three mins?

Mike.

Milktrolley

mike65 wrote:

how many stupid questions can a bunch of hacks ask in three mins?

That's putting it kindly. Very insensitive questions - he was right not to answer them.

That link won't work after tomorrow, but you'll be able to listen to the idiocy here:
http://dynamic.rte.ie/av/2198943.smil

santosubito

I think you’re being unfair here, Mike.

I’ll go through the questions below, but, first, I’d ask you what questions you think they should have asked Mr Keaney? He gave a statement outside a court. I think they’re fully entitled to ask him questions. He seemed happy enough to talk. And, anyway, surely it’s not about the questions, but the answers Mr Keaney gave, in other words what he wanted to say about his daughter. He paid a moving tribute to his murdered daughter before the reporters started asking questions, but I think they drew more stuff out from him as well, which is their job. And, I have to say, they were respectful at all times. I don’t think Mr Keaney reacted angrily to any question and he certainly didn’t seem to be unhappy at being asked anything.
He only said no comment once, see below.
Also, believe it or not, it is actually a very difficult thing to interview anyone who has just had a loved one murdered, or has seen their murderer jailed. Emotions are running high all round. I think they did very well. And sometimes you do have to ask stupid, obvious questions so the interviewee can say what he or she wants to say. Classic example: How do you feel? It's a good guess that the family of someone who has been murdered won't be feeling very good. But you can't assume that - you have to ask them, so they can say exactly what they are feeling. It is a stupid question and I always apologise to people when I ask that question. But no one has ever lost the head. They answer truthfully

Now, here we go:

1: What are your thoughts about Thomas Kennedy?

I think that’s a legitimate question. Perhaps he might have said Kennedy he was the biggest b*stard in Christendom. Perhaps he might have said he forgave him (it has happened). He said no comment.


2: You couldn’t help her…
This was a fine question. The victim impact statement was horrendously moving. A key part of that was Mr Keaney talking about how helpless he felt at not being able to help/protect his murdered daughter. I thought the RTE reporter was well within her rights to ask him to expand on that. He obviously got very emotional, but it was by no means a stupid question.

3: Tell us about her…
This question clearly struck a chord with Mr Keaney. He spoke at length “She was the love of my life…we loved and adored each other.” Any reporter who can get an interviewee to say that, to speak from their heart, is clearly doing a fine job.

4: Can you ever recover from this?
“I don’t think so, to be honest. It’s way bigger than me...”
Again, that question drew more strong comments out from Mr Keaney.

4: Did she ever talk about her relationship with Thomas Kennedy…
“Sheola was a very private girl…” Fair enough. Nobody pushed him on it when he said that.

5: Did she fear for her safety?
He said no. I can’t see anything wrong with that question, either.

6: What was your reaction to the plea?
He opened up at that and started talking about his shocked, and relieved, he was. The back ground there is that everyone expected him to fight all the way.

7: He doesn’t know why killed Sheola?
I think it’s okay to ask the father of a murdered girl to comment on the killer’s claim that he has no idea why he did it. Mr Keaney did say: “He has to live with his conscience…”

8. Do you accept that it was a spur of the moment killing?
Mr Keaney said it was hard to answer that, in the sense that he didn’t know.


9. Any wiser as to why this happened?

Mr Keaney replied: “I don’t think there are any answers, I don’t think there ever will be…”

santosubito

Milktrolley wrote:

That's putting it kindly. Very insensitive questions - he was right not to answer them.

That link won't work after tomorrow, but you'll be able to listen to the idiocy here:
http://dynamic.rte.ie/av/2198943.smil

He did answer them. He only declined to comment on one.

mike65

2: You couldn’t help her…

Maybe I'm just always expecting the worst of mic-mongers but it nearly sounded like "well you failed your daughter did'nt you?" In either event it was very clumsy.

3: Tell us about her…

Was the best of the bad lot as it gave him the chance to put her best foot fowards.

In truth I just find the way media intrudes on grief nasty, if the subject asks for the attention well fair enough but I could'nt stand there posing questions in such circumstances.

Mike.

santosubito

mike65 wrote:

Maybe I'm just always expecting the worst of mic-mongers but it nearly sounded like "well you failed your daughter did'nt you?" In either event it was very clumsy.



Was the best of the bad lot as it gave him the chance to put her best foot fowards.

In truth I just find the way media intrudes on grief nasty, if the subject asks for the attention well fair enough but I could'nt stand there posing questions in such circumstances.

Mike.

Well, that's one of the points I was trying to make: I think if you listen to Jenny O'Sullivan's voice, she does sound quite nervous. I know I certainly feel like that, and I'd be a bit longer in the tooth than her. It's terrible and you still get butterflies. But Mr Keaney did want to talk...
I've rarely come across any hack who intrudes on grief.(*) By that I mean if people don't want to talk, the reporters back off. But we're allowed to ask, to approach. Some people welcome the chance to talk.

(*) The worst case I personally experienced was after the Omagh bomb. We were all doing doorsteps and sort of operated a pool system, to make it easier for the families.
I approached one man with a British Sun reporter. I asked the man if he would like to talk, he said no. I backed off and apologised.
The Sun woman shouted: "What, not even a word?". I've never been ashamed to be a reporter, but that day I was ashamed she was a reporter.

Hobbes

I've never been ashamed to be a reporter, but that day I was ashamed she was a reporter.

Don't be. Sun don't have reporters.

Milktrolley

santosubito wrote:

He did answer them. He only declined to comment on one.

That was tired phrasing on my part. Sorry about that.

2: You couldn’t help her…

Not necessarily a terrible question, but awful phrasing. Something like "You spoke about the helplessness you felt. It must have been very difficult for you" would have been much more considerate, and, ultimately, resulted in a better answer.

4: Can you ever recover from this?

All sorts of negative connotations with this one. It's been a couple of months since his daughter died - presumably he would like to think that a day will come where he will have "recovered" from the pain and anguish in a manner that's respectful to the memory of his daughter. But nobody knows when, or even if, that day will come. A terrible question, but in any case, it could have been phrased much better.

9. Any wiser as to why this happened?

It's difficult for anyone to comprehend why somebody would actually murder someone. He may have been wiser as to what the motive is, but it's unlikely that the father is interested in it. His daughter has been murdered - I doubt very much that he would be trying very hard to understand the reasoning of her killer.

santosubito

Milktrolley wrote:

That was tired phrasing on my part. Sorry about that.



Not necessarily a terrible question, but awful phrasing. Something like "You spoke about the helplessness you felt. It must have been very difficult for you" would have been much more considerate, and, ultimately, resulted in a better answer.



All sorts of negative connotations with this one. It's been a couple of months since his daughter died - presumably he would like to think that a day will come where he will have "recovered" from the pain and anguish in a manner that's respectful to the memory of his daughter. But nobody knows when, or even if, that day will come. A terrible question, but in any case, it could have been phrased much better.


It's difficult for anyone to comprehend why somebody would actually murder someone. He may have been wiser as to what the motive is, but it's unlikely that the father is interested in it. His daughter has been murdered - I doubt very much that he would be trying very hard to understand the reasoning of her killer.

Well, as I said earlier, emotions run high in these sorts of things. It's one thing sitting at a PC a few days later and thinking of what questions could have been asked, and another having to think on your feet in an emotionally charged situation. I'm not trying to be a bollox here, just pointing out the reality.

Milktrolley

santosubito wrote:

Well, as I said earlier, emotions run high in these sorts of things. It's one thing sitting at a PC a few days later and thinking of what questions could have been asked, and another having to think on your feet in an emotionally charged situation. I'm not trying to be a bollox here, just pointing out the reality.

I understand where you're coming from, and I know you're not trying to be a bollox . I'm not sure about the exact experience the reporters that were there had, but for many it's probably not the first time they've asked a grieving relative questions. Even though they were thinking on their feet, I still would have expected that they would have phrased the questions better.