Preventing intrusive grief journalism: legal, policy and practical measures

This article is about how law and wider society might minimise the negative impacts of media interest on those who are grieving in the aftermath of tragedy. It looks at how law, disaster responders and media ethics can help protect grieving individuals against intrusion. Part I examines existing legal protections for bodily integrity, property and privacy found in actions for trespass, harassment, and the privacy torts. The need for free, fully competent consent to media encounters, and the impact that shock can have upon it, are discussed in this section. Part II explains how good logistical decision-making by disaster responders and active support for family members can help protect bereaved individuals from negative interactions with the media. Part III turns to the media, identifying protections for grieving individuals within existing media self-regulatory codes (particularly the ‘privacy’ and ‘fairness’ standards) and highlighting media ethical discourse which reinforces them.