Kate Stewart: Media's obsession with death link crosses the line

CONNECTION: Earthquake rocks Ecuador this week ... but can we find a Kiwi?

WE HAVE all heard of the sayings "Sex sells" and "If it bleeds, it leads ..." - both very much applicable where the news is concerned.

But I am becoming increasingly concerned at just how desperate our TV networks have become to weave a local association into an international story.

A few weeks ago I let it be known how disturbing I found the growing trend of exploiting the deaths of prominent Kiwis, offering live television feeds and footage of funerals - and let's not forget the all-important Facebook messages and live tweets being shared from said events in real time.

I may be beginning to sound like a broken record but I'm having another one of those moments where I find myself wondering if I am the only one to be offended by such things.

My new pet peeve is actually not that new, having been growing slowly but surely - like an undetected cancer - for years. The growth is now so big it can no longer remain hidden.

Funerals are one thing - but an actual death wish is quite another. Sadly, that is what our news networks now seem to have. It may sound perverse, but where news is concerned it is beneficial that someone does die.

Recent earthquakes overseas have seen our news readers and journos absolutely desperate to make that crucial Kiwi connection to the death toll, no matter how tenuous.

It could be the wife of a school teacher whose great aunt was the second cousin (twice removed) to the dogwalker who was previously married to a neighbour of the deceased ... They don't care as long as they prove a connection and can spin it as our own national tragedy.

They are like rabid dogs frothing at the mouth, frantically sniffing out someone, anyone to sink their teeth into in pursuit of a sound byte of their own.

The results rarely reflect the effort. We get a small photo of the person - normally in the top left of our screen - speaking by phone, often miles from the actual crisis, telling us nothing we don't already know. But because they are a Kiwi and in the vicinity, it is meant to make it seem more real and closer to home.

If by chance - and heaven forbid - a New Zealander were to lose their life, it would be milked for all it was worth and then some. Within hours we would know more about the deceased than we would a close friend, with old classmates, workmates, hairdressers and personal trainers relentlessly pursued and pressed for memories.

Many may say the TV journalists are just doing their job, but what worries me is how far they are prepared to go in the name of a story and ratings.

Maybe it's just me, but I think that lines have been crossed and privacy invaded. We wouldn't have tolerated such crass and bullish behaviour 20 years ago, so why the hell are we tolerating it now?

The whole 60 Minutes kidnapping debacle serves as yet another timely example.

Has media intrusion gone too far or can we justify it by telling ourselves it's simply a sign of the times?

-Kate Stewart is a politically incorrect columnist of no repute. Born and bred in Wanganui, she does not suffer fools gladly but does suffer from the occasional bout of hayfever - your feedback is welcome: investik8@gmail.com