Should the Newtown 911 calls have been released to the public?

[11 Bravo]

Legally, it's open and shut. 911 calls are part of the public record, and the AP had an express legal right to demand their release.
But is "legal" the same as "right"? I know the Sandy Hook parents were strongly opposed to the calls being aired, so how much weight should be given to their desires?
I've always considered myself to be pretty much of a First Amendment absolutist, but I'm finding this to be a tough call.

on edit: Whatever the response, I would be interested in your rationale.

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[HappyMe]

1. No.

Absolutely not.

[MADem]

2. Yes. If they are upsetting, don't seek them out and listen to them.

They are a public record.

You'd hope the news media would be sensitive and direct people to a website rather than air horrific excerpts, but you can't "make" them do the right thing, either.

Sunlight is probably the best disinfectant.

[cry baby]

3. At the very least, they should be required listening for congress members. nt

[Brickbat]

4. Public record means public record.

Or it should, anyway.

[Warren DeMontague]

5. I think you've answered your own question.

They're part of the public record.

Doesn't mean they ought to be put on the 10 o'clock news, of course. Media outlets have a choice in deciding to broadcast them.

[JaneyVee]

6. Yes, but I don't know if I'll listen to them. I still have PTSD from that event.

[11 Bravo]

8. I was teaching in my third grade classroom and went on line while the kids were at PE.

I'll never forget that moment.

[deathrind]

7. Yes-

All information should be released. The reporting of firearm related violence is very antiseptic in its delivery. If people really understood what that violence entails we might get somewhere with corralling it. It was not until body bags began being shown on the six o'clock news that the Vietnam war really began to end.

[KamaAina]

9. The CBS affiliate in Hartford refuses to air them

or even post them on its website.

https://www.facebook.com/WFSB3

We will not air the recordings of the Sandy Hook 911 calls on WFSB or WFSB.com. Our story, without audio, can be found here--> http://bit.ly/1iAfjuX

Also, they will not be covering the anniversary.

http://www.wfsb.com/story/24122521/no-wfsb-crews-will-be-in-newtown-on-dec-14

This is the leading station in most of Connecticut (the ABC station in New Haven owns about the southern third of the state).

[nadinbrzezinski]

10. Yes, it is time we stop shielding people

I understand the argument from the families, but one reason Americans believe violence is fantasy is because the media keeps shielding people from the horrors, whether it is refusing to run graphic photos from war zones or this.

[11 Bravo]

11. That's a difficult point to dispute. I'm still trying to balance it against ...

the wishes of the families, those parents who not only were able to hear the tapes, but then had to gather up the remains of their kids.
You and I both know that violence is not a fantasy, and have each witnessed it first hand. But I'm also a dad and a husband, and I'm struggling with the wishes of the families.
Greater good? Maybe. Like I said, tough call.

[nadinbrzezinski]

13. Oh it is a tough call

a very tough call.

And I have been in EMS where we did all we could to shield families from the vultures in the media. I am also very careful about that aspect when working as media, irony on steroids I know. But on the other hand, I know full well that most Americans have never seen those horrors first hand, and that the media shields them constantly from it.

I mean, graphic photos are rarely run, and when they are they tend NOT to be of the US. The most recent example of this is Hayan in the Philippines. A dime on the dollar that many of the graphic photos our media ran would not have run if that was not Philippines but insert here area in the US.

The same goes for the tapes

There are exceptions of course, like the local five O'Clock news. We have areas where we simply expect violence, and if we have it, I guarantee it will run. Especially if it fits a certain stereotype.

[Boom Sound 416]

12. Yes. It's a dangerous precedent