Things that are appropriate on the 12-month anniversary of the Sydney Siege:
1) Mourn the loss of two human lives, those of Tori Johnson and Katrina Dawson.
2) Acknowledge the tragedy that befell the victims and their families with respectful tributes and memorials.
Things that aren’t appropriate on the 12-month anniversary of the Sydney Siege, or anytime really:
1) Photographing a siege survivor and her seven-month-old baby without her permission and, quite possibly, her knowledge.
The Daily Mail have sunk to new levels of nope in publishing pap shots of barista Harriette Denny, who was 14-weeks pregnant when she – along with 16 others – was held hostage inside Martin Place’s Lindt Cafe, to capture images of her with “miracle” daughter Billie Georgina Rose as they strolled through Sydney‘s southwest on Friday.
[We’ve chosen not to republish them but, if you have the urge to check them out for context, they live HERE.]
There’s *literally* no point to the story other than to capitalise on people’s interest in the mental / physical well being of the survivors as the 1-year anniversary presents itself.
“Sydney Siege survivor Harriette Denny has been pictured with her ‘miracle’ baby girl one year on from the 17-hour ordeal that almost claimed her life,” the story reads.
And later: “At one point during her walk, Ms Denny stopped in the shade near a bus stop to check a message on her mobile phone, clutching Billie tightly to her hip.”
All the average goings-on of your ordinary mother-of-one who’s likely still coming to terms with extraordinary grief at what happened to her/her colleagues, and those which could in no way be classified as ‘in the public interest’ by journalistic standards.
Harriette has been willingly photographed with her daughter by weekly magazine Woman’s Day on two occasions: one back in August, when her daughter was newborn, and in this week‘s issue, when she discusses why she made fellow Lindt Cafe employee and siege survivor Joel Herat the baby’s godfather.
That doesn’t make her public property; photographing someone who’s consented to sharing details of their private life in a controlled environment is very different to shooting someone a survivor of trauma as they attempt to carry on with their everyday lives.
Celebrities are your schtick, Daily Mail, and Harriette doesn’t belong anywhere near that classification.
Photo: 60 Minutes.
