Some of the coverage of the Charlie Hebdo terrorism story, which held France television viewers spellbound for three days, may lead to sanctions, fines and/or new rules.
According to the Associated Press, French broadcast oversight organization Higher Broadcasting Council has the power to do these things and is looking into the matter.
A closed hearing has already taken place and a ruling is expected early next month.
Two incidents were cited by AP, both of which involved coverage of terrorist-held venues. In each, it was revealed that citizens were in hiding and that thus far the terrorists were unaware that they were on the premises.
Officials are concerned that the reporting could have put the citizens’ lives in danger.
In one of the cases, a television exec said a report was done with police permission and that under the circumstances nobody was put in danger.
Nevertheless, the HBC will be deciding if penalties or new rules are necessary in the wake of the incident.
RBR-TVBR observation: Freedom of the press is enshrined in our Constitution and is widely seen as a necessary component of a healthy democracy.
Every day involves decisions on what to cover and what not. But usually they are judgment calls based on any number of factors and are do not even remotely rise to the life-or-death level.
Our gut reaction is that this kind of information should have been saved for after the citizens were safe and sound. But we are sitting at a desk with no pressure of any kind, with full benefit of hindsight.
Thankfully, all of the people involved in these incidents came out of the situation unharmed.
But perhaps it would be wise for all journalists to give some consideration on when they should sit on information well before being forced to make such decisions on the fly and under intense pressure.
