A youtubed news report of todays terrible events is doing the social media rounds tonight. Im not going to watch it. I lived and worked in Dunblane when the dreadful shooting happened there. I could tell you stories about journalists who stayed in a hotel I worked in. One was so vile he ended up being arrested. I was told off by a manager for giving him a mouthful and for delaying his checkout so he would miss his plane. Some of the reporters staying in the hotel, complained about service. It was staffed by people from the wee village- in some cases by relatives of children who were in the school. They joked in bars at night about where they were and the people they had met -in front of staff traumatized by what had happened-some working only to keep their minds occupied -escaping from the depression and sorrow in their homes and on their streets, for a few hours. They said they had been in warzones all over the world and had better service. I unsubtly, loudly, reminded them they werent in a warzone -and even if they were, it wasnt a show just for them. They were in an ordinary town where children had been shot by a madman, and none of the people there had woke up hoping to perform for them. They were there feeding on a tragedy and criticising those it had been meted out on for not being their idea of interviewees or mourners or for not being happy to have lights, camera and war reportage thrust upon them. I hated watching them arrive in the hotel- some acting like prima donnas, vying for attention and some making outrageous demands on shocked staff. I witnessed microphones and cameras thrust in the faces of villagers trying to keep their lives going in the streets and small shops - ordinary people who were in absolute shock at extraordinary, horrific events they didnt deserve. I hated them as they left the mourning village, slapping each other on the back, shaking hands over a job well done, saying, see you at the next one. Dunblane was commodified, parcelled up by some of these scum, sold and Ching! the cash rolled in. Some were ok. If Sky News reportage is as bad as they said it has been, the Brutish Press have learned nothing in nearly twenty years. My thoughts are with those in anguish, sorrow, -personal, familial, shared mental hell tonight.
Posted on: Tue, 23 Dec 2014 00:00:42 +0000