Arno Haijtema17 January 2024, 12:02
In the village of Weiteveen, Drenthe, a man and a woman, also a father and mother, were killed in their home on Tuesday. The alleged killer, also a father, is said to have had a long-standing conflict with them. The police are investigating the circumstances of the tragedy. The suspect was arrested. The national media did not have to report much more and the NOS Journaal, for example, did not do so, with due moderation. Journalistic self-control that Op1 has abandoned.
A journalist from RTV Drenthe had investigated the disaster scene and shared her findings in the studio with EO presenters Tijs van de Brink and Carrie ten Napel. It was probably an act of desperation, the journalist concluded. For the occasion, the talk show had opened the drains of Facebook and
“Op1” is about the shooting that took place in Weiteveen in Drenthe. NPO image
In the first video, shortly after the attack, the alleged suspect, crying desperately, explains how he committed his act. He sent the video live on Facebook to the world. Shortly afterwards it was his wife who responded, again in live streaming. He’s panicking about what his “crazy” wife probably did and apparently had to immediately share it with the outside world.
Of course, they were easily facilitated by social media, which still hadn’t removed the videos the day after the shooting. Despite the devoted efforts of, for example, X to not overload the platform’s visitors with “harmful content”.
“You’re already sighing, it’s hard to see, isn’t it?”, Ten Napel empathetically suggested to his guests. Empathy that Op1 could also have demonstrated towards those closely involved in the drama: the children of the suspect. Although the faces of the father and mother were blurred in the subtitled fragment, the suspect shouted the names of his children, who he loves so much, into his cell phone. Apparently they didn’t need any privacy protection from Op1. Even if all the names are circulating in the crazy circle of rumors on social media, the public broadcaster has its own responsibilities.
There was more sloppiness in the transmission. At the dramatic apotheosis of a conflict that has apparently been going on for a year, can we still speak, as Ten Napel does, of “a neighborhood dispute that got out of hand”? And did Op1, without knowing the facts, unintentionally help portray the suspect as a victim of harassment and threats, thus creating the appearance of condoning his act?
The obvious question wasn’t raised for a moment: How did the suspect get his weapon? Buying something like this requires preparation, which makes an impulsive act of desperation unlikely. Another question: Shouldn’t Op1 have controlled his enthusiasm?
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2024-01-17 11:02:00
#reporting #fatal #shooting #Weiteveen #Op1 #abandoned #journalistic #selfcontrol