tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8709052517699784943.post3699619939192885842..comments2024-03-24T05:20:55.209-04:00Comments on Greater New York: Thoughts about Heath LedgerRob Snyderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14297706005998824168noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8709052517699784943.post-40817304568378233602008-01-25T13:02:00.000-05:002008-01-25T13:02:00.000-05:00Most reporters would find it difficult to accept t...Most reporters would find it difficult to accept the medical maxim of "First, do no harm"--as useful as it might be in such situations. Journalistic tradition holds that reporters should not deeply consider the consequences of their stories. (This is honored as much in the breach as in the practice, but that is a story for another day.) Moreover, most reporters also live in the hope that they will someday nail a bad guy to the wall in a way that will do him or her some kind of harm in the form of a fine or a prison sentence.<BR/><BR/>Nevertheless, a very fine journalist, Adam Michnik of Poland, once suggested that reporters should not hit harder than necessary. Any call or interview at the time of a suicide is bound to hurt the survivors, so reporters have a special obligation to work in a manner that doesn't unnecessarily add to their grief. And that goes for the deaths of ordinary people and celebrities.Rob Snyderhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14297706005998824168noreply@blogger.com