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funerals and the public domain.
Feb. 27th, 2006 06:10 pmNot last weekend but the one before there was a fairly bad accident in Mildura where six teenagers were hit by a car and killed.
Since then we have had wall to wall coverage of the funerals.
I don't have any problem with the accident being reported, the names of the victims and short obituaries being written, but since when are all funerals newsworthy events? It's starting to bug me.
There are some funerals, usually where the deceased was either highly in the public domain (e.g. Pope John Paul, Princess Di, Keith Richards if he ever proves us wrong and carks it) where I can see that the funeral could be considered news. Similarly state funerals (although don't get me started on the Late Mr Packer - what a waste of money) could also be considered news.
But the funerals of six teenagers in Mildura? Don't get me wrong here, I'm not trying to say that they're lesser beings or that their deaths are any less tragic than anyone elses. I just don't see that the funerals are news events. And yet, every night on both the commercial and government funded news we have footage from the funerals. Why? When did essentially local funerals become a Big Deal? And why not every funeral then - surely the deaths of three teenagers in Maffra who wrapped their ute around a tree are equally as tragic as the deaths up in Mildura? Or the WW2 vet who died in the nursing home? Or the mother of two who died of ovarian cancer? Or the father of one who suicided?
I really wonder when we got into this funeral thing. Because I don't remember the funerals of the victims of the Port Arthur massacre (1996) being televised. Is this a post-Diana thing? Anyone remember?
And now there's been another car accident in Tasmania. I feel for the families. I just want them - and their community - to be left alone to be able to grieve.
(The other side of things for me is that it's been interestingly triggering a whole stack of memories from 1987, when a schoolfriend of mine was hit by a car and killed. I'm reasonably sure the death was reported - probably along the lines of "A teenager, 15, was killed today when..." but there were certainly no cameras at the schools, the homes or the funeral. Thank God.)
Since then we have had wall to wall coverage of the funerals.
I don't have any problem with the accident being reported, the names of the victims and short obituaries being written, but since when are all funerals newsworthy events? It's starting to bug me.
There are some funerals, usually where the deceased was either highly in the public domain (e.g. Pope John Paul, Princess Di, Keith Richards if he ever proves us wrong and carks it) where I can see that the funeral could be considered news. Similarly state funerals (although don't get me started on the Late Mr Packer - what a waste of money) could also be considered news.
But the funerals of six teenagers in Mildura? Don't get me wrong here, I'm not trying to say that they're lesser beings or that their deaths are any less tragic than anyone elses. I just don't see that the funerals are news events. And yet, every night on both the commercial and government funded news we have footage from the funerals. Why? When did essentially local funerals become a Big Deal? And why not every funeral then - surely the deaths of three teenagers in Maffra who wrapped their ute around a tree are equally as tragic as the deaths up in Mildura? Or the WW2 vet who died in the nursing home? Or the mother of two who died of ovarian cancer? Or the father of one who suicided?
I really wonder when we got into this funeral thing. Because I don't remember the funerals of the victims of the Port Arthur massacre (1996) being televised. Is this a post-Diana thing? Anyone remember?
And now there's been another car accident in Tasmania. I feel for the families. I just want them - and their community - to be left alone to be able to grieve.
(The other side of things for me is that it's been interestingly triggering a whole stack of memories from 1987, when a schoolfriend of mine was hit by a car and killed. I'm reasonably sure the death was reported - probably along the lines of "A teenager, 15, was killed today when..." but there were certainly no cameras at the schools, the homes or the funeral. Thank God.)
