SilentKnight

Although there's already been a few threads about the recent issue of Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper banning the media from showing footage of dead soldiers returning from Afghanistan - last night my wife and I witnessed a prime example of why we think his decision is perhaps a good one.

CTV Network aired a tragic story about a little 3-year-old girl who was struck and killed by a vehicle after getting out of her father's car on a street in front of her school. Most disturbing about their coverage of the story was the cameraman's extreme closeups of a blood-soaked blanket lying crumbled next to the curb and a large pool of blood in the gutter. Then...to our total dismay - they showed footage of a fireman using a big firehose to power-wash the blood off the street and down a sewer drain.

Reality....yes. But was this necessary? What did these scenes add to the fabric of the story?

But to us, this exemplified how the media quite often simply can't control themselves from showing tasteless scenes that the public just doesn't need to see. There was nothing beneficial to the story by showing these scenes...it was nothing more than reckless and thoughtless journalism. Put yourself in the shoes of the poor girl's parents. Would YOU want to see images of the bloody blanket your dead child was wrapped in, a pool of blood in the gutter...and firemen hosing down the street after a tragic accident?

My jury was still out over Harper's decision to ban the media from showing returning soldier coffins - but after last night I now tend to think he's quite justified.