Skip to content

Breaking news is an ever-changing process

Whenever news breaks, news agencies scramble to be the first with the most information
8939440_web1_171020-NBU-BushColumnOct2017---IMGP9716
Authorities should continue to organize the release of victims’ identities when their is broad public interest in a tragedy, such as Nanaimo’s fatal fire of Oct. 10. (News Bulletin file)

Whenever news breaks, news agencies scramble to be the first with the most information.

Today’s online multimedia platforms used by newspapers, radio, television and those purely internet-based have levelled the competitive playing field. Newspapers now live-broadcast press conferences and other events with tools such as Facebook Live alongside our radio and TV competitors. Advances in social media also mean the News Bulletin, a community-focused newspaper that once operated more independently, is now fully integrated operationally into its parent company, Black Press, a technological and organizational shift that has brought the benefits and pressures of being a component of an international news gathering and sharing entity.

Getting information out first or at least abreast of our competition is good as long the information’s confirmed as accurate.

After a fire claimed the lives of three people last week the frenzy was on to release details, including the identities of the victims. Their names surfaced early, flushed out by a combination of commentary on social media and various connections, personal and otherwise, between members of the media and the victims’ friends and family.

There are a number of considerations when releasing this kind of information, not least of which is compassion for victims’ family and friends. Until recently, community newspapers, like the News Bulletin, had the luxury of waiting for official confirmation from authorities before reporting names, largely due to the time buffer that being a print-focused news source allowed. There was time to gather, absorb and process details for a more complete picture of events – and time to independently verify facts. But it was a comparatively slow process.

It has always been imperative that all information be independently verified before publishing it, regardless of who – be it our competitors or the general public through commentary on social media and other means – might have already made that information public. Unnamed or anonymous sources or the fact that “it’s already all over social media,” as one person responded to one of my recent queries, are certainly not acceptable proof of accuracy.

Independent verification isn’t always as easy as it once was. For years the RCMP, in our region, took responsibility for releasing victims’ identities and basic details. It was generally timely and you could rely on it being accurate. A few years back that responsibility was passed over to the B.C. Coroners Service – still accurate and mostly timely. In recent months that agency changed its policy from releasing identities, often with the proviso the family’s privacy be respected, to one of not releasing identities unless the family contacted it directly to request a deceased’s name be made public.

An incident, such as the fire that claimed a father, mother and their child, in a city the size of Nanaimo impacts us all. I think, given the media’s and public’s hunger for fast facts, this is one instance where authorities should have organized the release of their names to help buffer the family from media queries and to let the community begin its grieving process.



photos@nanaimobulletin.com

Like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter



Chris Bush

About the Author: Chris Bush

As a photographer/reporter with the Nanaimo News Bulletin since 1998.
Read more