Surely everyone has heard about it already. The plane crash in Tripoli (Libya). All the passengers and crew have died except one; a 9 year old boy.

And this is where I want to go with this post, or rather, not go. Ever since it happened the news has gone on a mad witch hunt to find out who this survivor is. They have announced his full name, his place of residence, photos, videos and what else they can think of. I’m appalled by this. This kid has gone through so much already, he doesn’t even know his family didn’t make it and yet the whole world press is violating his privacy. I don’t know about the rest of the world, but in my country even a criminal has more privacy. They never reveal their names, where they live, and photos are only shown with a big black bar across their face to avoid them from being recognized.

Then why is it that the media feels it’s OK to do something so intruding to a little boy, a victim of a tragedy? To sell more papers, to get more viewers watch the TV news or more page hits on their news sites would be my best guess. I’m very well aware that the news has to be broadcasted, but at the same time ethics needs to come into place as well.

And if you think it stopped there, you’re wrong. This morning it was announced that a national Dutch news paper managed to do a (short) phone interview with the boy. That has nothing, absolutely NOTHING to do with getting the news out but EVERYTHING with sensation and selling more papers. I bet they are really proud of themselves! It’s sickening…

The hospital and our country’s ambassadors are now taken precautions to protect this boy’s privacy. But in my opinion it’s too little too late. The whole world already knows his name and what he looks like.

I won’t link to any news articles here, nor will I mention his name. I don’t want to be part of that media frenzy and with this post I just want to point out that news should be announced but always with ethics in mind.

My thoughts go out to him, his family and all the families that have lost a loved one in the crash. May you find strength and hope to get through this tragedy.

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