When the media cover traffic accidents, people often receive the same information that is found in the police report. In other words, news articles typically tell us little more than who was involved, what happened, when the accident happened, where the accident occurred.
Often the last minutes of a traffic accident report tell how “the accident is still under investigation”, and that is the last piece readers hear about the incident. Occasionally, though, news outlets will dig deeper, as when the victim is a person of note, the circumstances of the accident are remarkable, or when it’s a hit-and-run. For example, in May 2018 a Tennessee woman was accused of speeding around stopped vehicles at a funeral procession and running over a pedestrian, the circumstances of that crash inspired multiple media outlets to detail the story, which resulted in DUI (driving under the influence) and possession of marijuana charges for the accused.
In a recent report “Dying while walking” the professors Anthony Campbell and Cara Robinson – Tennessee State University (TSU) – highlighted the increased risk of dying as a pedestrian due to a traffic crash, which they say, “has outpaced the risk of dying as a driver or a passenger.” However, the media coverage of pedestrian fatalities typically lacks contextual detail and is frequently driver/motor vehicle-centric, which has led some groups to argue that “coverage of pedestrian deaths is a form of “victim shaming” - as when a victim is deemed to have been “distracted while walking”.
In Portugal these traffic accident reports, as it also happens in other countries, have important implications for public policy, as news coverage helps shape public opinion and informs strategies for dealing with this problem. For that reason, media will tend to report the most tragic experiences to make the population aware of the importance of following the road safety rules strictly. Besides in Portugal the articles’ titles usually report the deceases which shows a huge concern about the people’s security. Furthermore, sometimes the victim's story is told, but only in a few cases, for instance when the circumstances of the accident are remarkable.
When reporting a traffic accident television does not provide enough information to investigate the causes of the incident, the media usually report the visible facts, such as the deceased and the ones who were involved.
Comentarios