Junior Bailey Kuariki has once again come before the courts for allegedly breaking his parole conditions. Not a surprise it would seem, according to media who persist in calling him a baby faced murderer. But don’t you think it is time the man was left alone, and if he should need to be sent back to jail, that will happen.
Yes he committed a heinous crime, and I am not defending him for a nanosecond, but if there is any chance of him staying out of trouble, and therefore jail, he should be given that chance. Humpf, I hear many say; and you could be right. But we will never know unless the hounding and harassment stops.
Unlike David Bain, Kuariki has no Joe Karam to shield him from media scrutiny, nor does he have a high profile and well respected individual to vouch for him. Contrast the demonization of Kuariki, with the celebrity status of Bain.
Media really do have the power to cast not only individuals, but also organisations as villains or victims and the label can stick for all time. No longer is the news today fish and chip paper tomorrow, instead it will sit in cyberspace for ever poised for the next Google search that finds it.
Tony Veitch is another such example, and I am sure we can all think of many more. The demonising of individuals in pursuit of a good story sometimes serves no purpose other than to boost ratings. But the impact on the individual can be profound and lasting. Hard to resist I am sure, and in the current economic climate with competition at fever pitch, journalists almost have no option but to take this route.
In our business we regularly deal with a similar issue, where the emotive individual story is more compelling than the corporate position. When it comes to victims and villains, the tendency is regard all individuals as victims and corporates as the villains, almost regardless of the truth.
Granted at times the advocacy role of the media in outing someone’s wrong doings has been extremely beneficial but in other instances it can cause irreparable damage.
I do not envy the media’s job in the world we live in today. Bald statements of fact with no emotion do not sell and the audiences want to be enthralled and entertained wherever possible. But how can the media balance this need to be as “newsworthy” as possible with the impact this might have on an individual or organisation?
I would appreciate your thoughts and experiences on this issue. It is a perennial problem that impacts on all PR professionals.