Contemporary Problems of Television News Coverage of Tragic Death: Impacts on the Bereavement Process

• NCJ Number: 151706
• Author(s): K Brown
• Date Published: 1994
• Length: 31 pages
• Corporate Author: Mississippi State University
• Sale Source: Mississippi State University
• Publication Type: Survey
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America
• Note: Presented at the International Conference on Violence in the Media, New York, New York, October 3-4, 1994.

Annotation

This study explores the contemporary problems of television news coverage of violent death and the effect it has on the bereavement process undergone by surviving family members.

Abstract

Data were collected from 329 surveys completed by survivors of persons killed in a tragic accident or homicide. Eighty-one percent of respondents reported that their loved one's death had been reported on television news. There was no difference in attitudes about television news coverage of tragic death between respondents whose loved one's death had been reported or had not been reported. Most respondents who felt strongly that television news coverage of the tragedy affected their bereavement process reported that the influence was a negative one. Those respondents also believed the television news teams should be subject to a time restriction before approaching survivors. Members of the organization Parents of Murdered Children felt more strongly than members of Mothers Against Drunk Driving that television news media often behaved inappropriately when reporting details of tragic deaths. 20 references and 1 appendix