Press Council: Reprimand for naming dead people
The Press Council has approved a complaint by the Ticino Journalists' Association against the Ticino radio and television station RSI and the Sunday newspaper Il Caffè. In the coverage of a fatal relationship drama, privacy had not been respected.
Both the RSI TV news program "Il Quotidiano" and Il Caffè made public in February 2012 the name and photo of a couple from Lugano who were discovered dead in their apartment. At the time, the police spoke of a relationship drama. The man allegedly killed first the woman and then himself. The newspaper and news program had violated point 7 of the duties of journalists, writes the Press Council in a statement published Tuesday. There was no public interest in identifying the dead by name and picture.
In addition, there was no declaration of consent from the relatives. Privacy should have been respected to the extent that it would not have been possible for outsiders to recognize the persons. In its statement, the Press Council criticized the common practice of Ticino media to always mention the names of the persons involved in serious crimes. This procedure had already been denounced in several cases in the past. (SDA)
