If you are a part of the news media, but did not take part in any of the decisions described herein, this does not apply to you.

Simply put, they go too far in their attempt to keep the public informed. Take the recent riot-like activites following a parade in New York City. It seems that an amateur cameraman caught the events on tape, which is admirable, because ot allows for positive identification of the offenders. What was done with this tape, however, is, in my opinion, a crime against the general public. This tape contained graphic images of human beings assaulting each other, and generally not being very nice to one another, but that's not my biggest problem. This tape showed several images of women who had been assaulted, who were crying, screaming, and begging for help, some of whose clothes had been forcibly removed by the assailants. Why was this put on TV? Who these women were, and exactly what they looked like is of little interest to anyone besides the police, and quite frankly, none of our damn business. Not to mention the fact that children may have seen it, but that's a different node entirely. This kind of dehumanizing behavior sickens me.
True, they do practice a good deal of incorrect reporting, but the reason I felt like noding this was because of the tape. Notice that the title is not The Only Reason the News Media Sucks. Whether we saw a nipple or whatever in the tape is inconsequential - it was invasion of privacy plain and simple. Do you think they asked all those women before putting them on TV half-naked and being assaulted? Personally, I have no idea, but I seriously doubt it. It was still none of our business who they were. I wouldn't have cared if they hadn't shown faces, as I, much like the rest of America, have been desensitized to this stuff by the media.