Enemies of Reason Poundshop potshots at the media moral maze.

Grief porn and the Mail

*update* Please see Dawn's post on this. She got there before me.

I've left the Mail alone for a while because, well, because my sanity benefits from not being exposed to its horrors, to be brutally honest with you. But I couldn't leave this one alone. Today's story

is one of the lowest things I've seen, even from these jokers, for a while. As ever, I can't bring myself to give them even the tiniest sliver of traffic; but if you really must go there and see it for yourself, you know how to find it by searching for that delightful headline.

Beneath it are photographs of: 1) A woman in tears as she looks at a hearse containing the body of her dead husband; 2) The same, but with the widow placing a flower on top of the hearse; 3) The woman overcome with grief and in tears; 4) Another man in tears as he looks on; 5) Just in case you hadn't seen it already, another photo of the widow in tears as the hearse passes by; 6) Another photo of the same woman with another mourner in tears next to her; 7) Photos of two of the dead service personnel; 8 ) A picture of the flag-draped coffin being unloaded from the military transport.

The widow, Heidi Kirkpatrick, is pictured six times. In each photo she is barely able to contain her grief.

Now I know there are a few things to bear in mind with this kind of story. Firstly, this is a public event and therefore there is a tacit acceptance that these things are public, not private. However, I would say that since this is the relatives' very first opportunity to see their loved ones since they have been repatriated, it's not as simple as that. In a lot of ways this is the same as watching a blanket-covered body being wheeled out of a front door - although of course as seasoned tabloid readers will know, that's fair game nowadays as well.

Secondly, you could argue that it's necessary to cover this kind of story in order to bring home the reality of war, and I don't disagree with that of course. There are some who would call the Wootton Bassett repatriations a slightly ghoulish parade that has become unnecessarily politicised, but I wouldn't go that far. I can completely understand the need of relatives to be there to see their loved ones arrive home, and the need for people to express publicly their support for the armed forces should they choose to do so. I do find there is at times a slightly Diana-ish element to all this which I might not find entirely palatable - though of course you have to respect the right of anyone to mourn in whatever way they choose, as someone like me can't possibly imagine what they're going through.

And it's not the families' fault how these events are portrayed. The Mail's take on this particular repatriation is nothing short of grief porn. There's a whiff of something unpleasant about all the photos of the grieving widow, in her pink dress, and yes, she's not an unattractive woman. I just find something slightly unsettling about the whole thing. One photo can always be justified, but six? I am not so sure at all.

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