Maybe I'm an Old Fuddy Duddy, but I remember a time when interviewing parents....

[Junkdrawer]

less than 24 hours after they lost their child was considered bad form.

I saw it on Fox News while I was waiting for the Sheriff Dupnik interview: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=439x155016
and I thought "Only Fox would have that bad taste." But I was wrong:

CBS:
http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=7228269n&tag=cbsContent

MSNBC interviewed the mother:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/40989496#40989496

Has it really come to this? Absolutely no respect or privacy?

[Tunkamerica]

1. In fairness, the parents have to agree to be intertviewed

I realize it's a very difficult time and they may be vulnerable and the interviewers may be pushy.

[hlthe2b]

2. I remember a time when those who used violent language & symbols

towards their political opponents would be drummed out of the discussion and the public forum. Not given reality tv shows, multi-million dollar book and television contracts and heralded by all the media as though she were a "legitimate" political voice.

How things have changed.... sadly.

[spanone]

3. hell, my local news thrives on showing crying relatives of victims

it's the culture of the media......it's beyond broken

[Junkdrawer]

7. What's next? Hanging out at Children's Hospitals with cameras and microphones?

Great new reality programming!

[spanone]

12. my wife & i comment on this all the time...it's pathetic

the people may consent to these interviews, but many times they seem to be in a state of shock....

[Junkdrawer]

14. I would say that if you lost a child and were NOT in profound shock....

you would be mentally ill.

[emilyg]

4. They weren't forced to do it. Their choice.

[Junkdrawer]

11. Do you think that the parents may be just a tad vulnerable and that....

ethics might demand that they be left alone?

[LiberalEsto]

5. I used to dread it

I was a newspaper reporter for many years but didn't run up against this until I started working for daily papers. The few times I got stuck with this in the 1980s, people refused to talk with me, and I didn't blame them.

Now reporters tell the families that this is their opportunity to set the record straight, or to let the world know about the wonderful person they lost. And many people have grown more accepting of this kind of thing. I find it repugnant.

[Junkdrawer]

9. "And many people have grown more accepting of this kind of thing."

Precisely what worries me. An escalating lowering of the expectation of respect and privacy.

[onecent]

6. It is beyond me "how" a parent has the faculties to appear

on tv within 24 hours after a family member's death. especially a childs...wow..

[handmade34]

8. I was incredulous...

I do not understand a parent willing to be interviewed after the death of their child...

I would be suffering uncontrollably if anything happened to any of my children...

I am flummoxed by this

[Lucinda]

10. I suppose we all handle tragedy of this magnitude in our own way

I couldn't have done it, at least that is my assumption...but it may be what they need to do to get through it. When I am in pain the last thing I want is someone in my face until I have processed it in some manner.

[Raine]

13. Not to blame the victims but why would parents

agree to be interviewed. It's really up to the parents to tell the media they absolutely won't be interviewed or make a public statement.