Editorial – Unfortunately this something that needs to be stated. Frankly we’ve tried to stay away from it. But it is also effecting Today’s Northumberland as people contact us when they read something that causes them concern.
Emergency scanners have been around for ages. And frankly there has never been a time that I hoped more that they go encrypted which means you can’t pick them up.
Media listening to scanners has always been a part of the business. I’ve been in the biz for over three decades now and have always had one.
But I’ve always felt with listening to a scanner comes responsibility. Maybe it’s an unwritten rule.
You don’t have to report every single thing that you hear. And frankly I don’t believe you should.
Up until a few months ago every incident wasn’t reported.
But of late it has been and this has caused frustration for emergency services as well as Today’s Northumberland.
Because when something gets posted people want to know if it’s factual.
There have been a number of incidents that have been posted lately.
Today for instance Colborne Fire Department responded to an alarm at a school.
Police also attended. It was a fire alarm. A. Fire. Alarm. Nothing more. There is no need to report it and cause worry for parents because students couldn’t leave for a short time.
.Just days ago a headline read “14 Students Uninjured After Bus Crash in Hamilton Township.”
From the information gathered, the bus slid backwards and one wheel was stuck. There was no “crash.”
And likely very minor or no damage. This would only increase the anxiety for any parent reading it whether it said no injuries or not. Frankly they way the headline read it’s sensationalism – it’s click bait.
Weeks ago the headline read heavy police presence near Baltimore. Again, it turned out the public needn’t be concerned, but putting a headline out on social media only causes anxiety for people in the area.
Another social media post stated that children were lost on their snowmobiles in Northumberland Forest. A number of people contacted Today’s Northumberland and we looked into it.
Northumberland OPP were not even aware of it at the time.
It turns out the people were not really “children.”
We were told they were around 18-years-old. Now we again didn’t look into this in-depth because frankly it was nothing.
But when it was posted on social media, people wanted to help out in anyway including the possibility of searching themselves.
Police did eventually get information on the incident and determined it wasn’t an emergency.
A OPP officer stated to dispatch to inform the person to remove the social media post as they were worried people would go looking for the “children” and they may get lost in the woods.
Finally in the age of media, it may be hard to determine who is or isn’t the actual media.
In social media times, my personal definition for accredited media would be a registered business and having insurance.
Having scanners go encrypted is unfortunate because there are times when media can assist emergency services.
Anyone that has a scanner should be responsible enough to know what is news and what is clickbait.
Author: Pete Fisher
Has been a photojournalist for over 30-years and have been honoured to win numerous awards for photography and writing over the years. Best selling author for the book Highway of Heroes - True Patriot Love
