Kerre Woodham: No need to see traumatic images

Deanna Robertson, who was crushed beneath a wall. Photo / Supplied

I would love to see newspaper and television editors show a bit of restraint when it comes to publishing and broadcasting images involving victims of accidents.

Was there any need for a close-up of Sergeant Steve Creeggan, the sole survivor of the Anzac Day Air Force Iroquois helicopter crash, as he was stretchered away from the site? Give the man a bit of peace and a bit of dignity.

And the image of the shattered mother of a toddler, crushed beneath a retaining wall at a relative's house, was prurient in the extreme.

Every Sunday newspaper in the country, including this one, carried the shot of the grief-stricken mum watching in horror as her baby was carried away on a gurney and it was wrong to have printed it.

Do the editors imagine that we, as readers, enjoy seeing that much pain and hurt? How is it in the public interest?

When somebody has been affected by a shocking and life-changing trauma, they should be left alone and certainly not have cameras shoved in their faces.

It's cruel, salacious and it's no wonder that journalists are right down there with politicians and used car salesmen in the public respect stakes.