Two young men lost their lives last Friday morning. Two families lost their sons, their brothers, their grandsons. And a huge circle of friends and even acquaintances have lost two great guys in Ryan Engel and Jack Greig.
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If their crash in Nolan Street, Soldiers Hill, in the wee hours of last Friday morning is to teach us anything, it’s to take more care on the roads and be wary of all road conditions.
And through their tears of grief on Sunday, that’s just the message Ryan’s parents Carol and Guye Engel and Jack’s mum Mary Gordon, sent during an interview with The Courier.
“Be careful on the roads every single time you get into the car,” said Mr Engel. “Taking an extra few minutes to get to where you are going can save lives.”
This may also be a good opportunity to point out another lesson that can be learnt from the tragic death of these two young men, cut down in the prime of their lives … speculation, innuendo and Chinese whispers at such a tragic time are unnecessary and downright spurious.
Families and friends of those affected by tragedy do not deserve conspiracy theories from people playing a guessing game.
Families and friends are coping with enough grief without it being compounded by gossip.
Us in the media are often accused of inciting this speculation and adding to the grief. But there is a big difference between us doing our jobs in a respectful and truthful manner and down right lies.
To the best of most journalists’ abilities, we in the media report on the facts. We don’t go out to deliberately add to the heartbreak of families in tragedies like car crashes or murders.
The media is held to account for its reporting. If we get it wrong, we apologise.
However, there are small pockets of keyboard warriors who think nothing of adding to grief by negativity, by speculation of situations they really know nothing about.
In cases of fatal car crashes and murders, it is up to the investigating officers and the coroners to determine the facts, not you people who hide behind the safety of a keyboard.
It’s time for these keyboard warriors to put themselves in a grieving family’s shoes. What if it was your wife, husband, son, daughter, mother, father involved in such a tragedy?
It’s time for keyboard warriors to stop being cowards and be respectful.