Cie Media Watch Case Study

‘Media Watch’ case study – 6th February 2012: Tragedy made worse by insensitive media

This paper will look into the episode of Media Watch on the 6th February 2012 episode, focusing on the segment which reviews on a report on the case of a missing young girl in Western Australia and the involvement of an older man, as reported by PerthNow. This paper will recognizes the actors and stakeholders in this case story. Other than that, this paper will also include the applied ethical viewpoint into this report review, based on the utilitarianism principle.

Synopsis

On 2nd January 2012, an 8 years old girl was reported to be missing with a 38 years old man, Augustine Winter Miller in Western Australia. In this episode of Media Watch on 2nd January, Media Watch pays close attention to the way PerthNow reports the ordeal of the young girl in this story. The girl, an aborigine native to the Australian lands, was named by the police News Release. PerthNow reported that Augustine, who had once faced conviction for child sex was with the girl during the entire time they went missing. However, a police inspector said that they believed that Miller simply got lost. The girl was later found dead after being severely dehydrated. PerthNow even reported that the police believed that the girl was abducted prior to her death. The mother of the victim was said to be unhappy over the fact that her daughter’s information was used without so blatantly her permission. A police report came to a conclusion that there isn’t any evidence of sexual assault and Miller was upset over how his name was portrayed by various media, especially PerthNow prior to the autopsy report.

Actors and Stakeholders

The people directly involved in this story includes the media outlets, namely Media Watch, PerthNow, and also the person named in this story, Augustine Winter Miller, the police inspector, the young female victim, and also her parents.

The ones not directly involved in this story but...