The media and Moat

Bosco boy

Just wondering if anyone else thought that sky news overstepped the mark getting so near moat and being a hinderance to police and a danger to themselves, standards are rock bottom but this was reckless!

mike65

Didn't see much of it (live "nothing happening" news coverage isn't my bag) but good sense seems to just fly out the window once they are on the ground. The mere fact the place was swarming with Hi-vis police cars and spooky-clad armed cops adds to the adrenilin rush. The BBC was little better as far as I could tell.

AudreyHepburn

To be honest, although it probably was foolish for the press to be so close for the reasons the OP mentioned, I don' think it would have changed what happened in the end.

Moat was obviously not right in the head and he hated the Police so much it was never go to be easy to negotiate with him. I never thought he'd just give himself up, I always felt he'd either shoot himself or they'd have to take him out.

I don't think the proximity of the press would have made a difference.

crowdflash

Some shambolic media professionalism on display. But then, the police weren't much better either. Will the truth out? Does it ever from the Brit police? Will the same media push for the truth? We know the answers...

mike65

Conspiracy theories are to be posted here

Nijmegen

According to Sky News' own report they had a reporter and a cameraman meters behind Moat, while he was being told there was nobody behind him (which he thought they were lying about.)

Whether or not this had a material impact in this case is not relevant. What is, is that the media is becoming more willing to be a part of the story, and in cases such as this one could cause harm quite easily.

They should be restricted in their reporting of these cases, and kept at a distance.

Bring in a priest or some other independant person, or even a few journalists kept alongside police, to ensure that the operation is not bungled away from media eyes.

But to say that they are in any way responsible is not true. These guys were playing with fire.

silverharp

his brother was on Sky describing the whole situation akin to a snuff movie. I'd agree with the sentiment, 24 hour news and a situation like this leaves a bad taste in the mouth.

mikemac

I believe it was the Sun had a headline today that his daughter didn't know what has happened, she was shielded from it.

Nothing strange with this, she will be told in time.

And they print this?
How is it is relevant to drag a young girl into this and what she doesn't know and how her family are coping??
Makes my blood boil :mad: She is only three

Edit: it gets worse:
http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/3049907/Raoul-Moats-girl-doesnt-know-hes-dead.html

It is thought Moat's two older children Chantelle, nine, and Lexy, six, from a previous relationship are also still to be told he is dead.

Why are they pulling children into this?
This isn't me crying "oh think of the children". These young kids should not be in the paper, it's not relevant at all and now they have been named in a national newspaper and their ages given. Do you think none of their neighbours read the papers and know before they do

AudreyHepburn

crowdflash wrote: »

Some shambolic media professionalism on display. But then, the police weren't much better either. Will the truth out? Does it ever from the Brit police? Will the same media push for the truth? We know the answers...

I have to disagree here. I think the Police did a remarkable job especially considering that this man had shot and killed one of their own.

It must have been a very difficult situation to be in, trying to talk to Moat and be friendly and understanding toward him when he had murdered their collegue.

Kiwi_knock

AudreyHepburn wrote: »

I have to disagree here. I think the Police did a remarkable job especially considering that this man had shot and killed one of their own.

It must have been a very difficult situation to be in, trying to talk to Moat and be friendly and understanding toward him when he had murdered their collegue.

Moat only injured a police officer, he killed someone he suspected was a police officer. Police should always act professional and not let personal feelings get in the way. More than likely the police officers that interacted with Moat did not actually know the police officer who had been shot. The police were far from professional in many areas of the investigation and negociations with Moat.
With regard to the media coverage, in the early stages of the Moat stand off there was a police report that there would a 10 mile media ban. This never materialised which was a disgrace, the media only further sensationalised the story with them being so close.

paddyland

I saw a bit of Kay Burley earlier that week, strolling nonchalantly around the village, trying to whip up the excitement; all she was short of was a bag of popcorn and an ice cream. It was more like the preamble to a big music festival, and every police car flying past was another 'rock star' arriving for the 'main event.'

Given that the most likely outcome of all of this was the death of Moat, either by his own hand or a police gun, the whole episode was more akin to the public hangings of a century ago, which were often turned into festive occasions, for people to gloat and generally behave sickeningly. Life is cheap, and the world hasn't really moved on at all.

IRE60

"Life is cheap" - true and Mote proved all too well.

Will people step back here a bit - I can never understand the sudden morality that's found in cases like this.

The media covered the story as it happened - the reported to a wider audience what the villagers and others saw.

And in 20/20 hindsight we are crying because they didn't get a 10 mile exclusion! 10 Miles - will you get off the stage. Never, never should that have been even mentioned.

Sky were 500m away when the incident happened - how far back were BBC or ITV or PA or Reuters - any mention of these. Just because SKY got the jump and covered the story as it happened.

Actually the real story is who shot first - and its the close proximity of TV cameras and sound equip that's getting to to bottom of that. The cops in the UK are still investigating what happened! But Sky et al are coming up with their own conclusions based on their audio.

Bosco boy

IRE60 wrote: »

"Life is cheap" - true and Mote proved all too well.

Will people step back here a bit - I can never understand the sudden morality that's found in cases like this.

The media covered the story as it happened - the reported to a wider audience what the villagers and others saw.

And in 20/20 hindsight we are crying because they didn't get a 10 mile exclusion! 10 Miles - will you get off the stage. Never, never should that have been even mentioned.

Sky were 500m away when the incident happened - how far back were BBC or ITV or PA or Reuters - any mention of these. Just because SKY got the jump and covered the story as it happened.




Actually the real story is who shot first - and its the close proximity of TV cameras and sound equip that's getting to to bottom of that. The cops in the
UK are still investigating what happened! But Sky et al are coming up with their own conclusions based on their audio.

who cares who fired first! The world is a better place without him.