Was There Too Much Hype On Bryan Glenn?

Tom Jackman recently wrote an article in the Northern Virginia Blog of the Washington Post’s website that was somewhat critical of recent media attention over the disappearance of Bryan Glenn, a teenager from Fairfax City that reported missing a few weeks ago. Approximately one week after her was reported missing, Glenn's body was found in the woods near a local park.  While the Police are still waiting on an autopsy report, Jackman suggests that the available evidence points to a suicide.

Jackman then goes on to explain why the Washington Post chose not to cover the story, especially after the body was found. Jackman says that the mainstream media has always refused to cover suicides unless they involve a public figure, or happen in a very public manner, and that the coverage of local television outlets had violated this rule.

Jackman justifies this position by arguing that undue attention to suicides would only glorify and encourage the act of killing oneself.


Whitney Rhodes of the Fairfax City Patch had a different take on this issue.  On 10/17, Rhodes countered that “what was likely just another statistic or news brief for national or regional media organizations was big news for us. Our readers don't come to us for the GDP or the day to day of Congress. They come to us because we have (so they tell us) a pulse on our communities, what they're thinking and what they're talking about.”

My Take:

Fairfax City is part of my community.  For this reason I was glad that the press devoted coverage on the disappearance of Glenn. Contrary to Jackman’s opinion, I don’t believe that reporting on suicides glorifies the conduct, so long as the coverage is done tastefully.

Furthermore, reporting on a missing teenager is something that is a matter of public interest to the community.  In this particular case, the level of public attention actually did some good, as it was ultimately a citizen volunteer that found Glenn’s body.

That said, the Washington Post, as a major national media outlet may feel that they have a different role to play then to simply report local stories.  I don't see anything wrong with that. But the Post shouldn't be trying to dictate how other media sources select which stories to cover.  At the end of the day the pond is big enough for the Washington Post and Patch.com.
 
Side Note: There’s still another story here that isn’t being told.  If it was a suicide, as Jackman seems convinced of, then what drove him to do such a thing? Should the press even attempt to answer that question?