Parents complain over TV coverage of Mark Speight’s death

Posted by heatworld on Wednesday 16 Apr 2008

Filed under: Mark Speight

Thousands of children were always going to be upset by the tragic death of one of their most-loved TV presenters, but it’s emerged that some parents have complained to the BBC about Newsround’s coverage of Mark Speight’s suicide. The legendary kids’ news show always tries to handle hard-hitting stories sensitively, but this time, it seems it was just too much for some children. Both the Newsround website and the show itself made sure they did not use the word “suicide” or go into detail about the sad story of Mark and his fiancee Natasha Collins, instead saying “police don’t think he was killed by anyone else” and “he had been having a bad time recently and his family and friends had been really worried.” But still, some parents weren’t happy, with a handful complaining directly to the BBC. One even phoned up Radio 2 and said “It is sick and appalling. Why is this news on a website which should be associated with positive things? It is not the pampered middle-class children who that story will depress. It is already vulnerable children from awful homes who look to children's TV as the last place of comfort.” We think it’s important that Newsround did cover the story, even though it’s inevitable that some children would be upset, but what do you think?