Covering with responsibility –
Media as first responders

MEDIAMEN are often some of the first people to respond to a crime scene or a disaster. But if reporters are to cover such incidents responsibly, they need to know the appropriate way of treating a crime scene without contaminating the scene or inadvertently destroying the evidence.

In a seminar held by the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism for editors and reporters from the Visayas, Philippine National Police Medico-Legal chief Superintendent Ruby Grace Sabino-Diangson spoke of the need for mediamen to behave properly in crime scenes so as not to compromise police investigations.

In the past, mediamen have been criticized for stepping all over crime scenes and violating the so-called sanctity of the “police line.” In some cases, reporters and photographers even pick up pieces of evidence, or inadvertently rearrange elements of a crime scene before police investigators are able to arrive.

 
The briefing is part of a series of seminars being conducted by the PCIJ for reporters, editors, prosecutors, and other officers involved in the quest for justice for the growing number of media murders in the country. The seminars are being held with assistance from the National Endowment for Democracy.