Front Page Tragedies

both make me look and make me look away in disgust.

Accidents, rapes, and mutilation.

I am intrigued by the details of how it happened, why and who the victim was.

Death sells.

When an occurence of the mentioned sort happens, I imagine dog-eared journalists do as they would when they hear their calling - with ears perked up and their senses alert.

They can't help it really. Neither can self-proclaimed ethical readers like myself who sometimes scrunge up their face in disgust at the thought of the violation of those victims who have just been hurt, and yet read on while we click our tongues disapprovingly.

Justification says that newspapers are helping them gain sympathy, and to give attention to the issue at hand. To create public awareness.

I remember when I first found out that a friend's father who was a government official, was tragically killed in an accident.

They put pictures of the crash site. Justified. Of her father's face. Justified. Of her family grieving and crying over his casket. There is no justification there. There is only so much that is the public's business, so much that they need to be aware of.

I know a picture tells a thousand words, and none can tell it so well when the photos are blown up, printed in full colour.

And despite my disgust, I still look; transfixed.

Is the media to blame for the grotesque news reports that people see, or is it the public's morbid fault of loving these news pieces that force reporters to write this way?