Sky News reporter was just doing his job
In view of the public interest in the so-called “trolling” of the McCanns by Twitter users, the news organisation appears to have behaved perfectly properlyBy Telegraph View6:25AM BST 07 Oct 2014
The apparent suicide of Brenda Leyland following her unmasking as an alleged abuser on Twitter of the McCann family is a tragedy all round. For her family, the circumstances of her death will compound the loss they must feel. For Mr and Mrs McCann, who have suffered so much since the disappearance of their daughter Madeleine, it is another ghastly consequence of her disappearance.
Now, though, an attempt is being made to force the dismissal of the Sky News reporter Martin Brunt, who confronted Mrs Leyland about a series of comments made on her anonymous Twitter account. A campaign has begun on the social media site Facebook demanding his sacking. This is unfair. Mr Brunt was just doing his job and, by all accounts, scrupulously followed guidelines for handling such stories. The Sky report did not identify the village where Mrs Leyland lived and she was referred to only by her Twitter name. Moreover, registration plates on nearby cars were pixelated.
Sky News’s guidelines state: “Any grounds for an investigation that involves significant intrusion into any individual’s privacy must be very strong.” In view of the public interest in the so-called “trolling” of the McCanns by Twitter users, the news organisation appears to have behaved perfectly properly. While the exchanges may turn out to have been a tipping point for Mrs Leyland, no direct link has yet been made between the incident and her sad death.
Mrs Leyland was said to be one of dozens of people – and by no means the worst – to have attacked Kate and Gerry McCann over the internet and often under the cover of anonymity. The police spend huge amounts of time investigating this abuse. In the end, the perpetrators must take responsibility for their own actions.
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/social-media/11143889/Sky-News-reporter-was-just-doing-his-job.html