News Media Coverage: How much is too much?

I noticed as I watched TV this morning that the “Today Show” was broadcasting live from the Virginia Tech College campus. While on the campus I noticed they interviewed this girl, a survivor of Columbine that happened to be a grad student at Virginia Tech that also was a survivor as well. During the grad student’s interview she said, “Just how much news media coverage is enough before people have a chance to personally heal from tragedy without having the media around hound them for interview after interview?” She stated that she understood the media’s need to inform the public of such tragedy, but she said that there needs to be a line drawn to give people the proper privacy and time to heal from tragedy and hurt.

I think that she was totally right, true journalists whether amateurs or professional should respect people’s right to have time to heal from any tragedy of this magnitude. Journalists should have enough respect to not cross the lines of taste and tact and give people time to grieve, mourn, or etc. before seeking people out to interview them. Instead of the tactics used by the “Today Show” rushing to interview people so soon after such great tragedy just for the sake of beating the competition and boosting the programs ratings, journalists should back off and wait a while before rushing in to interview people.