An investigation that feels like a national sport: that is the impression one gets at the moment surrounding the disappearance of 15-year-old Rebecca from Berlin. The "Blick" newspaper is at least taking part as a bystander in this tragic journalism that is out of control.
Heavily edited Instagram photos of the missing qatar rcs data person; details upon details at a sensitive time; parents who invite journalists to their home story; media that encourage all kinds of voyeurism: the search for the teenager who disappeared on February 18th raises many questions in terms of media ethics. Four of them are particularly serious.
Firstly, it is understandable that a family is emotionally upset when a 15-year-old girl disappears for weeks and anything can happen. It is also understandable that people are overwhelmed and react in an irrational manner in such extreme situations. What is incomprehensible, however, is that some media outlets use this emotional state of emergency as a license and a gateway to tell a widely read story about a suspected crime from the living room of those affected, allowing anyone who likes it to enjoy the suffering of others up close.