What is the role of the media when a crime is being committed? Should they report on the crime or should they report the crime to the police?
I was a little astounded last week when I saw, on television, members of the Anti Poverty Committee trashing offices of Olympic officials in Vancouver. I wasn't astounded by the fact someone was trashing the offices – such civil disobedience does happen from time to time.
What I found astounding was the revelation that several media outlets were right there with the Anti Poverty Committee folks gleefully filming the mayhem. Apparently the media were alerted that the committee was going to be at the offices. Granted, the media probably weren't apprised of the fact, beforehand, the group planned to trash the offices.
However, when the group started to commit a crime, what was the responsibility of the media? Those who filmed it will tell you their role is to simply report what was going on. I have to admit, getting a picture or footage of a crime in progress is juicy stuff for the media.
But I also think the media, and reporters, have roles to play as citizens too. We can't simply remove ourselves from society and pretend that we don't exist in the same world as those we report on. We do. Yes we have a responsibility to report the news, but we also have a responsibility to society.
What I'd like to know is whether any of those news outlets willingly turned over their footage to the RCMP or whether any of the reporters there, when they saw a crime being committed, bothered to call 911.
You can bet that if any of those people trashing the offices had turned on the media, the reporters there would want the full protection of the law of the land.