A british news outlet detailed the cause of my father's death publicly....

Gamer Bhoy 89

My dad took his own life a month ago, and myself and my entire family are still hurting bad over it.

He was found in a hotel room in England.

The problem is, the news outlet, - the only news outlet that wrote about the incident - posted the details of his death and publicly posted it on their social media pages.

If I know my family, I know they would not have wanted those details posted, it was posted 2 weeks after it happened.

I was fine with the report in general - it's important to report deaths and when it happened, but the actual cause of death??
It made my heart sink.

Is this kind of thing normal? Are they allowed to post this kind of information? I'd be scared in case other members of the family see this. There is already an uproar in the comment section where they posted it on Facebook, and I sent them a message asking why they gave away that particular detail.

Hoboo

Normally media report something along the lines of "not under suspicious circumstances and police are not looking for anyone in connection".

It's highly insensitive, but if they haven't printed something untrue I'd imagine theres nothing you can do.


Edit: I read the article, they went beyond insensitive, absolutely no need. I could understand if it was later in the year after the report, but so soon too. Completely unnecessary information. Sorry for your loss.

gozunda

Very sorry to hear of your dads death gamer bhoy.

Personally I think it was extremly insensitive of the news outlet to do that.

I would send them a formally written letter outlining your feelings and the fact that they did so without any concern for the family members.
Ask for a retraction of the details posted asap.

Hope this helps

Gamer Bhoy 89

Thanks lads, I sent them a personal message via Facebook and reported the Twitter post.

If, in the end there's nothing I can do, then I'll just breeze ahead despite it.

I'm just grateful my family hasn't seen it yet, and I doubt they will. It's not like we don't know the details - by god we know, it's just no other outlet reported on it, and the one outlet that did, wrote that article.

Wasn't nice.

My own frame of mind with this is, I don't need a reminder of what he did floating around the internet like that. It's not nice at all

Jeff2

I'd contact them here.


https://www.gloucestershirelive.co.uk/how-to-complain/

Ursus Horribilis

Have you asked them to take it down off Facebook?

Gamer Bhoy 89

Jeff2 wrote: »

I'd contact the here.


https://www.gloucestershirelive.co.uk/how-to-complain/

I didn't think of that, actually. I'll do that, as well.

Ursus Horribilis wrote: »

Have you asked them to take it down off Facebook?

I certainly did, but they have yet to respond. I'll go ahead and email them as Jeff suggested, just to be sure they'll get back to me through one of the platforms.

Ursus Horribilis

Do they have a phone number? An editor you can talk to?

Jeff2

Ursus Horribilis wrote: »

Do they have a phone number? An editor you can talk to?

0300 123 2220

Sorry that the number for independent press standards Organisation

Ursus Horribilis

I think a phone call would be a good start. We live in a horrible age of clickbait, sensationalist headlines and that night have desensitised the newspaper staff. Especially if they live their lives on social media and don't deal so much with humans. If they have a grieving human speaking to them from the end of a phone line, it might have a better impact. Its also harder to ignore a phone call.

Gamer Bhoy 89

Ursus Horribilis wrote: »

I think a phone call would be a good start. We live in a horrible age of clickbait, sensationalist headlines and that night have desensitised the newspaper staff. Especially if they live their lives on social media and don't deal so much with humans. If they have a grieving human speaking to them from the end of a phone line, it might have a better impact. Its also harder to ignore a phone call.

Is there a way I can ring a free number from here? Forgot to put in the detail that I've been living in Ireland since 2004, it's my father's side that still live in Scotland.

Jeff2

If they don't respond then contact here to complain under privacy.


https://www.ipso.co.uk/contact-us/

whiskeyman

There may be something like the press commission there too?
Just checked.
Might be worth a read of this and see if a complaint is worth following.

https://www.ipso.co.uk/member-publishers/guidance-for-journalists-and-editors/guidance-on-reporting-suicide/#KeyPoints

Dial Hard

Pretty much all Irish media outlets have signed a code of conduct that very strictly circumscribes how they report cases of suicide. I have no idea if there's a comparable code in British media but the fact of the matter is that if what they have reported is factually correct, you probably have no legal recourse.

You can, however, try to appeal to their better nature as others have suggested. I would contact the journalist who wrote the piece, the editor and the owners of the paper explaining your position. They may do you a courtesy but a courtesy is all it would be. I realise feelings are running high for you but they may see things differently. Best of luck.

qwerty13

I think you should remove the very identifiable details from your post. I don’t know how news editors work, but if they are engaging in click bait headlines or details, then who is to know if they’d decide to leave the article up if people google it / click on it.

And I’m sorry for your loss.

ongarboy

I'm very sorry for your loss OP. This upset on top of your father's tragic passing is the last thing you or your family need. Please follow the other posters advice and contact the paper directly or make a complaint. It sounds like per this link that there is a code of contact that British journalists are requested to abide by in these situations but are not legally enforced rules. As a courtesy, they may take down the details if you lay out your case.

https://www.ipso.co.uk/member-publishers/guidance-for-journalists-and-editors/guidance-on-reporting-suicide/

OP, as someone else said, you'd be better off removing your sentence detailing location, town, county, media outlet and date as anyone here in two seconds can retrieve the offending article through a google search with that detailed info. Boards and the Personal Issues forum is a very highly trafficked site so it could be well likely people you know or from your home area would be reading this and also identify you personally from it through association. Not that it would be something to be ashamed of but for privacy reasons.

Gamer Bhoy 89

ongarboy wrote: »

I'm very sorry for your loss OP. This upset on top of your father's tragic passing is the last thing you or your family need. Please follow the other posters advice and contact the paper directly or make a complaint. It sounds like per this link that there is a code of contact that British journalists are requested to abide by in these situations but are not legally enforced rules. As a courtesy, they may take down the details if you lay out your case.

https://www.ipso.co.uk/member-publishers/guidance-for-journalists-and-editors/guidance-on-reporting-suicide/

OP, as someone else said, you'd be better off removing your sentence detailing location, town, county, media outlet and date as anyone here in two seconds can retrieve the offending article through a google search with that detailed info. Boards and the Personal Issues forum is a very highly trafficked site so it could be well likely people you know or from your home area would be reading this and also identify you personally from it through association. Not that it would be something to be ashamed of but for privacy reasons.

Thanks for the advice.

I've edited my OP to not include that info - I wasn't thinking.

I'll try to get in contact with the outlet today

Graces7

Above, deeply sorry for your loss OP. Enough to endure without this. Bravely approached.

Another day

So sorry for your loss. Contact them, hopefully they have a heart...

Gamer Bhoy 89

I received a response, via email.


"Dear Mr [surname]

Please accept my sincere condolences for your loss and I apologise for any additional distress our reporting has caused.

We abide by the editor's code of practice as set out by the Independent Press Standards Organisation. We work very closely with the Samaritans, who train and support our staff to ensure we are always reporting inquests responsibly. We will always redact highly sensitive information from our inquest reports.

The cause of death as set down by a coroner is a matter of public record. The coroner's office or the family liaison team should have informed you that our journalists attend inquests and reports will be published following a public hearing which will always include the cause of death.

In this instance, as a gesture of goodwill, I have instructed my team to delete any and all content about this inquest from our site and from our social media channels.

The inquest was adjourned until [this date]. We will attend court on that day to cover the inquests scheduled. I have instructed my team not to report on your father's case. I hope this will put your mind at rest that no additional reports will be published via our [location] titles.

yours sincerely
[editor]"


I'm going to check back tomorrow to see if the article was indeed deleted.

Gamer Bhoy 89

Both the social media posts and the website page have been removed.

Thanks everyone for your help and advice.

Can I request to the mods that this thread now be closed?