I'm looking at the theme of visibility again, and here, I'm going to delve a little into non-news. I'm defining non-news as events that grab people's attention much more, and for much longer, than they should. Events that the public end up obsessing about rather than leaving them alone.
I could talk about endless articles about Kim Kardashian, her arse and her kid with Kanye East or whatever, celebrities who have articles because they wore a dress, or bought a coffee or whatever; this is non-news we are familiar with and accept, and complain even though we know it wouldn't be so popular if people weren't interested. You only need to open up the Daily Mail website and scroll down the links on the left hand side to see stuff like that.
Also on there, and other news sites, is a story about a woman found dead in a hotel room after being confronted by a journalist over tweets she made on Twitter. This was @sweepyface aka Brenda Leyland, who was recently confronted by Martin Brunt over her trolling of the McCanns, who (if you did not know already) are Gerry and Kate, parents of Madeline McCann, who has been missing for several years. Those of you familiar with the story know that there have been many news stories about this case, and nobody has reported that either she has been found, or a body has been found.
I cannot comprehend the daily grief that the McCanns have to endure. I have a four year old daughter myself, she's blonde haired, beautiful and sometimes she is a pain in the arse, but if she went missing I would not stop looking for her, I could not rest until she was found. No, I personally would not have left her without parental supervision even on holiday, but then again I am not the perfect parent either, he without sin cast the first stone etc. What I don't understand though is the unbalanced level of attention given to this case; many people go missing daily, including kids, and even those who have been missing for a while don't get this much attention.
News articles generate discussion, they do, whether down at the pub, at work, at home, or online, it goes on. And as well as informed and lively debate, we have unsavoury comments from people, who may feel they have to "tell it like it is" or genuinely want the recipient to feel hurt, basically lacking tact when it should have been needed. We call it Trolling. If you are unhappy with a politician's actions in government, a celebrity has been racist or whatever, please do feel free to be creative with your insults to those who really cross the line. But when it is aimed at parents who have lost their child, it is sick and it is unwarranted.
@sweepyface wasn't the worst troll, but the invasion of her privacy is ironic and the level of unwelcome attention moreso. But I don't believe in "an eye for an eye" level of justice, and perhaps this case should have been left to the authorities rather than Martin Brunt. I'm hoping the authorities are taking it seriously about the other ones who have been threatening violence etc against the family, as while it may seem fun, an audience of people threatening violence against me on a daily basis isn't something I particularly want.
I'm fed up of writing this now, so I'll finish. I'm hoping there'll be less news articles on the whole McCann affair, as it heaps more attention on the parents and does little to assist the case. I wish the ongoing investigation my best and that in the end, she is found alive and well, and that there is no body found, or there is no trace whatsoever.
Haters, stop hating. You are not making things better. If you have anything worthwhile to add to the investigation, and have the appropriate evidence, forward it to the authorities. Seriously, stop talking like idiots on Twitter and do something better instead.
And finally, and with complete irony, this article shouldn't even exist.
No comments:
Post a Comment