Reporters on Friday were allowed inside the rental home of the couple identified as the shooters in this week’s deadly attack in San Bernardino, a decision that resulted in the live broadcast of photographs and other personal items on cable news. “Many viewers and media analysts were surprised at the scene, with critics saying news media may have compromised a crime scene and acted irresponsibly by releasing sensitive, personally identifiable information about those who lived there”, The Wall Street Journal wrote.
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Reporters for live broadcasts on networks including CNN and MSNBC said the dozens of reporters and camera crews were invited into the townhouse by its landlord. “We regret that we briefly showed images of photographs and identification cards that should not have been aired without review”, read the statement from MSNBC, per Mashable. Let’s not replace them with mob justice and angry irresponsibility. Included are photos of unidentified children, baby items, social security cards and identification cards.
The owner of the apartment complex allegedly granted access to a number of media outlets to Syed Rizwan Farook and Tashfeen Malik’s apartment, with MSNBC deciding to show it live to air, Gawker reports.
“That just opened the flood”, Miller’s wife, Judy, told the newspaper on Friday. “Once we turn that location back over to the occupants of that residence or once we board it up, anyone who goes in at that point, that’s got nothing to do with us”. San Bernardino police originally told the Los Angeles Times that the apartment was still an active crime scene, but said that the investigation there was being conducted by Redlands police and the FBI.
Reporters on CNN noted during a broadcast following the initial search of the home that there were some law enforcement present nearby, and they made no attempt to stop the media from going inside.
“As a journalist, when you are in a home, you are gathering information”, she said.
“A CBS reporter, live on CBSN, explained he would not show closeups of personal material-and would not even touch anything, as it was private property”, TV Newser reported. During a press briefing, the F.B.I. spokesman said they had cleared the scene.
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That statement might also have warned producers of the perils of the live broadcast.
