There is a growing sickness in our information culture. It is not new, but it is getting bolder, louder and far more destructive.
It is the rise of local social media blogs that trade in trauma, chase emergencies and exploit other people’s worst moments for views, likes and algorithm clicks.
This week our community saw one of the worst examples yet. A local blog livestreamed the aftermath of a car crash while the vehicle was still on fire.
A young woman had died in that car. Her 7-month-old child, rescued by bystanders minutes earlier, was inches away from losing both mother and life.
Yet the camera kept rolling.
There was no hesitation. No pause. No dignity extended to the victim or her family.
No respect for first responders who were working to control a chaotic and dangerous scene.
Just a phone pointed toward tragedy and a steady stream of comments pouring in from viewers who had no business witnessing something so raw, so personal so devastating.
At The Tribune, we have long refused to go to crash scenes for this exact reason. Not because we lack interest or access, but because we respect human life.
We respect families who deserve privacy in the worst moments imaginable.
We respect fire, EMS and law enforcement personnel who need room to work without cameras shoved in their way.
That is a baseline standard in real journalism.
Blogs are not bound by that standard. Most are not accredited media. They do not operate under ethical codes recognized by the profession.
They are not trained in public safety, crisis reporting or victim protection. They simply show up, turn on a livestream and hope tragedy performs well online.
This is not news. This is voyeurism.
And it is time for it to stop.
County officials and law enforcement leaders must take this seriously. Deputies and officers have the right and responsibility to maintain safe working perimeters at crash scenes, especially when a vehicle is actively burning, when lifesaving operations are underway or when a deceased individual is present.
Accreditation matters. Training matters. Professionalism matters.
When unaccredited blogs push themselves into these scenes, they are not just being irresponsible. They are endangering themselves, interfering with emergency operations and inflicting unnecessary trauma on families who will forever know that their loved one’s last moments were broadcast on Facebook for entertainment.
This should outrage every elected official who claims to care about community standards. It should outrage every agency head who believes in professionalism. It should outrage every resident who understands the difference between journalism and chaos.
We need accountability, and we need it now.
A countywide protocol is overdue. Real boundaries, real enforcement, real clarity about who belongs inside an emergency perimeter and who does not.
Respectable news outlets will follow those guidelines because we always have. Blogs will fight them because guidelines stand in the way of views.
But the truth is simple. A community cannot claim to value human life while allowing people with cell phones to livestream death.
The families who suffer these tragedies deserve more. Our first responders deserve more. Cullman County deserves more.
It is time to rebuild the foundation of local news and shut the door on exploitation. It is time for leaders to step up. It is time for a higher standard.
And it is time for this era of reckless, sensational livestreaming to end.
