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I am so angry........

(29 Posts)
grannyactivist Wed 24-Oct-12 16:14:37

...a certain 'red-top' newspaper has today been refused a story by a very close, widowed, relative of mine.......they wanted to give her an 'opportunity to tell the truth' about events incorrectly reported by the press in the past.....offered her money (she has never accepted a penny from the media),.....have been canvassing her neighbours about her lifestyle, "Does she go out much?".............

When the journalists were seen outside her home for the second time today her wonderful neighbours phoned her to let her know they were there and handed over the phone so that she could ask them their business with her. She declined to give a statement or interview and passed the phone to me.

I have had an assurance from the, very insistent, journalist that she will be left alone..........so of course we're now expecting more publicity!

And the person in question was left sobbing at the, seemingly never ending, intrusion into her privacy. She's now afraid to return home and dreading a further onslaught of comment and criticism in the press. angryangryangry

JessM Wed 24-Oct-12 16:18:37

That is outrageous, and probably illegal? Complain to the regulators? Or police?

annodomini Wed 24-Oct-12 16:22:52

This sort of harassment was reported in the earlier stages of the Leveson inquiry. Perhaps just say, 'Leveson' in a very menacing manner and see what happens.

Bags Wed 24-Oct-12 16:25:11

Oh, that's too bad, ga. No wonder you're angry. Wish there was something we could do sad

gracesmum Wed 24-Oct-12 16:26:05

Oh aren't they just like vultures, Poor lady.
I agree with both the above posts. You need to fight back.

absentgrana Wed 24-Oct-12 18:20:29

The trouble is that they will continue to hang around, ring doorbells, interview neighbours, etc. until they get what they want or a bigger story breaks. That's why we see so many worried/bereaved/frightened families doing a press conference on TV – the police recommend it because it makes the journalists go away.

whenim64 Wed 24-Oct-12 18:35:06

ga they are complete b******s, aren't they? Why on earth do they think there is a sensational story to be derived from a widow just getting on with her life? Press intrusion cannot be justified here. I hope it stops. flowers

Butternut Wed 24-Oct-12 18:46:24

ga no wonder you're angry! I do hope things settle soon. What jackals some journalists. are.

johanna Wed 24-Oct-12 18:59:18

ga
Maybe half the problem arises ( press attention ) from the fact that your relative is very attractive?
Would they bother with a mousey person?
Just a thought.

glassortwo Wed 24-Oct-12 19:07:40

grannya you have good right to be angry, I hope it settles down very soon for you all sad

crimson Wed 24-Oct-12 19:54:47

A friend of mine lost her ex husband in a car crash; the press hounded her family for ages. They're disgusting; I don't know how they sleep at night sad.

vampirequeen Wed 24-Oct-12 22:16:40

My son died of natural causes at 7.45 pm and the local newspaper reported his death in the early edition the next day giving enough information for people to realise it was us even though they didn't mention our name. So we never got the chance to break the news to friends and family gently. The paper did it instead. They did a long report about when the ambulance was called, our child being pronounced dead and us being interviewed (they didn't say the interview took place in our living room and was just a statement of what happened). Then finally they ended with 'The police say there were no suspicious circumstances.' So in effect it was a non story. When challenged they said it was a public interest story. How was the death of our baby of interest to anyone but us?

This intrusion into people's lifes should be banned.

Jodi Wed 24-Oct-12 22:29:02

Vampirequeen losing a child is the worst thing that can happen to a family. At a time like that you don't need any extra pain ((((hugs)))

glassortwo Wed 24-Oct-12 22:30:23

vampire {{{hug}}}

Ana Wed 24-Oct-12 22:33:48

Absolutely awful, vampirequeen. No consideration of your feelings at all, in such sad circumstances.

chocolatepudding Wed 24-Oct-12 22:48:15

Sadly I have a similar tale to Vampirequeen to tell.

I found my 7 month old daughter dead in her cot one Sunday morning when we were staying with my parents. My DF called for an ambulance and my DH did the kiss of life. Even the ambulance men could not revive her. The ambulance stayed at the house for at least one hour as my PILs were phoned and they came over to see DD before she went to hospital.

The next Thursday the local weekly rag came out and it was the Christmas Eve edition. On the front page BABY FOUND DEAD IN COT and 3 inches of complete fiction..."collapsed and died and was rushed to hospital"???????

We wrote and complained and had a pathetic letter of apology.

If the opportunity arose even now, some 36 years later, I would tear that journalist and his editor limb from limb for the additional pain they caused us. It taught me to never believe the press...and to stand up and fight.

whenim64 Wed 24-Oct-12 22:49:06

vampirequeen how horrible for you at a time when you really didn't need such treatment. flowers

Ana Wed 24-Oct-12 22:51:05

chocolatepudding - flowers for you, too. How very, very sad.

whenim64 Wed 24-Oct-12 22:53:34

chocolatepud how distressing for you. flowers I used to think journalism was a noble profession but not any more.

Jodi Wed 24-Oct-12 23:33:22

chocolatepudding ((((hugs)))) the pain never goes away I know.

NanaNel Thu 25-Oct-12 09:02:28

When our son died at age 16 after an asthma attack the press had found out about it by hanging around A&E. They were not told our address but managed to find out the name of our village. They knocked on doors but nobody would give them information. They also rang around the undertakers but got nothing there. We were well protected by the villagers many of whom did not know us and were always grateful. Today 22 years later I always rant when I see a story in the paper or on the news with a reporter intruding on someones sorrow. Public interest it is not.

whitewave Thu 25-Oct-12 11:54:39

We so need to boycott these papers

Beachee Thu 25-Oct-12 12:30:48

My husband was killed in an M5 crash. The police who came to inform us were very sensitive and careful about how they explained to myself and the children, as the full details were a bit horrific.
I had a local newspaper journalist at the door at 9am the next morning wanting details. She was sent packing and said we were too sad to talk and we wanted to be private.
By 5pm the same day the same newspaper had printed full details, with awful graphic photographs of the accident. We had not seen any of these as the police were trying to be senstive towards our feelings. One family member was traumatised and in total shock when she picked up the newspaper without knowing the article was going to be in there.
I contacted the editor and complained. He apologised for causing us distress but said that once any news has been released by police is "in the public domain" and therefore newspapers are free to publish.

It is POWER WITHOUT RESPONSIBILITY

FlicketyB Thu 25-Oct-12 22:45:52

My story is very very trivial compared with the real tragedies other people have talked about.

Some years ago an acquaintance had an affair reported and written up in the News of the World. Just a very ordinary and I think not long lived affair. Neither of them was in the public eye, he was a university lecturer and she ran a village shop. I assume it was her aggrieved husband who supplied them with the story. The only point of interest was the difference in their occupations, The article was headed something like 'The Don and the shop girl' no descriptions of nights of passion or other titillating details.

I have never understood the point of running the article. Nobody who knew him was surprised by the story, he had a track record, and I cannot imagine that the average NoW reader would get excited about an article about an unknown lecturer and shop manager having an affair. It was of course embarrassing for each of them. But apart from that why chase such a non-story?

bikergran Thu 25-Oct-12 22:58:17

just one reason I don't buy papers anymore..I may have a glance at them if one is lying around somewhere..but then I rememebr why! I don't buy them !