Bad News, Good News

Over the weekend, two young people in our community committed suicide. These young women went the same high school, and played on the same soccer team. I can’t imagine the grief that student body is bearing right now, not to mention the families of the two girls. In the wake of this tragedy, I’ve been impressed by expressions of sympathy and compassion from the entire community. I’m also impressed with the school’s response, encouraging parents to have real and honest conversations with their kids about depression and suicide.

But here’s what else has impressed me that I was not expecting, and you won’t be either: the media coverage. Believe it or not, I’ve been impressed with the media coverage.

I’ve blogged before about the vulture-like, voyeuristic behavior of news outlets following a tragedy. Be it a small-town death or a public execution on the global stage, the news coverage—on every scale— is often crass, dehumanizing, tactless,  and as we say downhome, just downright tacky. The cameras shoved in the faces of the bereaved family; the incessant rehashing (sometimes even replaying) of gruesome details; the anchors’ inappropriate speculations on someone’s state of mental health; often, the re-telling of a thing constitutes a crime all its own… So I wanted to acknowledge the fact that one of our local stations made a really classy move this week. Their coverage of the story focused almost entirely on the school’s response. And at the bottom of the article, they posted this note:

Note: The story of two children who took their own lives at Olathe Northwest in the past week is almost too horrible to contemplate. For us, it is also difficult to report properly.

Because the Olathe Northwest community was so shaken by these deaths, and because suicide prevention is such an important and worthwhile cause, we decided to report this story with as much care and discretion as possible.

Out of respect for the girls and their families we will not name the victims.

Further, in reporting this story our team decided we would come no closer than across the street from the church where Monday night’s gathering was held, and we would seek out no students to talk to. Any interviews we conduct will be done with a parent’s permission, and only with students who approach us. Our prayers are with the girls’ families and friends.

I mean… did you ever? It’s almost as if they want to treat these families and students like actual people. And it draws even more attention to the fact that the language of respect, community and discretion is the exception rather than the rule in our hyper-connected, gossip-hungry information age. As for this station that embraced the exceptional behavior… good game, KSHB. You will be my news-getting place from now on.

The gift of this message is multi-layered. But ultimately, it creates some sacred space for those who grieve. I only hope that other competing outlets will follow their lead and honor that space. And whatever the others say or do, I’m glad for this one voice that stepped aside. Out of the spotlight, and onto holy ground.

We live in the world, and we know it’s not always good news. But even bad news can be delivered gracefully. And the Church should not be the only body to say so.