A weekly newspaper editor has defended the decision to publish a video of a 12-year-old schoolgirl being hit by a car and a bus.
The News Shopper published CCTV footage on Tuesday which shows schoolgirl Jade Phillips being hit by a car and then dragged under a bus in Gravesend as she crossed a busy road.
But the paper has come under fire from readers for publishing the video, with 346 comments on its Facebook page – many of them saying it was in bad taste.
Jade was taken to hospital with a fractured skull and broken collarbone following the incident where she remains in a serious condition.
Editor Andrew Parkes defended the paper’s coverage of the story and told readers they had “thought long and hard” before publishing the video.
He wrote: “First and foremost, I want to wish Jade a full and speedy recovery. I do understand stacks of people, not just family and friends, feel strongly about News Shopper’s coverage of this story.
“I also realise that not everyone will agree, but I assure you we did think long and hard before publishing this story and video. We understand it is shocking, but in the end we felt that if it might actually save another child’s life it had to be done.
“Many people have expressed their concerns about this road and asked us to speak to local schools about safety. We will now do all we can to campaign for better road safety in this area.”
The paper’s story also contains a warning that the video shows the actual crash occurring and that some readers may find it distressing.
However one comment from a reader on Facebook said: “Everyone should unlike this group after the sick video they posted.”
Another wrote: “Posting this video on FB is completely out of order and the ‘only’ reason you did so is because you felt it’s graphic content would promote your paper.
“So please don’t insult our collective intelligence by stating that ‘you care’ about this girl and her family.”
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Defending the indefensible here. I wonder how ‘long and hard’ they really did think about it. If they had, then they would’ve seen sense and not published it.
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I think the Police or Council are also to blame realising the footage to the paper,RTC pictures after the accident are fine,in fact they help in a witness appeal,bad call by the editor,if in fact they have one and not a group editor that looks after several.Would he have shown it if it was a nephew or niece,NO is the answer,because his brother or sister would have told the him to get lost!
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Shock horror. Local paper reports news!
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I have just watched the video on the newspaper’s website. There is absolutely no justification to run it on the site – we all know what a traffic accident entails and a descriptive news story would suffice. This is a poor editorial decision that should not go unpunished.
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As journalists we are duty bound to publish news that we believe may save a life or alert people to danger. It’s that simple, to imagine that the editor published this for any other reason is ridiculous. I can also say that even though I understood what was coming in the video – it still shocked me and that is the whole point, shocking people into awareness that things need to be done. Schools and parents could start with teaching young people not to cross roads between parked cars… I hope the child has a quick and full recovery.
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If this does have an effect on road safety, that’s fine. But with the victim still being in a serious condtiion, perhaps there was a need for some caution.
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“As journalists we are duty bound to publish news that we believe may save a life or alert people to danger.”
Pass the sick bucket.
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‘Duty-bound to publish’? Rot. Good editing is knowing what to leave out as much as what to run.
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I used to work for a rival paper of the News Shopper. I must say, this is not the first time they have done something like this. For example, they once rewarded a reader who wrote to them on an anti-gay rant with their ‘star letter’ award.
Read here http://853blog.com/2010/08/26/news-shopper-rewards-anti-gay-rant-with-a-prize/
The newspaper seeks controversy to increase its website hits..
Rubbish paper, amateur way of doing things. Sad thing is the editor is probably chuffed with himself that he’s managed to get more publicity with this latest stunt.
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Come on! This is nothing more than rubber-necking. What next, video of some poor sod throwing himself under a train? The ‘road safety’ defence is a load of codwallop!
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Very poor editorial decision. One step away from a snuff movie.
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Ghoulish sensationalism, made worse by the hypocritical claims of it being in interests of public safety. Editor sounds like an idiot
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Apart from anything else. Why did it take so long for someone to stay by her side while the emergency services arrived? At least two people went up to her and walked away.
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Shabby journalism which plays into the hands of critics of the press’s conduct.
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