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One step further than funeral selfies?

Discussion in 'Sports and News' started by YankeeFan, Jan 14, 2014.

  1. YankeeFan

    YankeeFan Well-Known Member

    I kind of felt this way when NPR's Scott Simon was live tweeting his mother's death.

    But, the Keller's are coming under a lot of fire for their insensitivity, and for Emma's journalistic ethics:

    The best part is that they're feeling unfairly criticized, and Bill rushed to his wife's defense, using his NYT column to do so.

    Here's an archived version of the original article: http://bit.ly/1cX8Ogd

    Here's Bill Keller's column: http://nyti.ms/1awJJZU

    Does Emma keller have a point? Did she make it poorly? Is the criticism fair?
     
  2. Dick Whitman

    Dick Whitman Well-Known Member

    I read Bill Keller's column and didn't think twice about it until this controversy erupted today.

    It reminded me of a compressed version of the Atul Gawande story a few years ago in the New Yorker addressing "death panels" and what end-of-life care really entails, including research about palliative care stretching life expectancy more than continuing the fight, which Keller talks about, as well. (Coincidentally, the New Yorker has a story this week about advances in children's palliative care.)

    We went through a lot of this with my brother-in-law a year ago, when he was in the end stages of cancer. Some of the doctors and nurses wanted to begin palliative care, while the family, and in particular his partner, wanted to fight to the finish, regardless of the toll. It caused a great deal of tension and still is a cloud over the family, in some ways. I completely understood and supported whatever her brother wanted to do - which was fight to the end. It gave his life meaning and hope, irrational as it may be. (Oddly, my thoughts turned to the final seconds of the movie "United 93," which were comforting to me because I felt that the passengers probably felt until the end that they were going to win the fight against the hijackers.)

    That said, I think that when someone like Adams chooses to document her own approach this publicly, someone like Keller is well within his rights to present the opposing viewpoint.
     
  3. MisterCreosote

    MisterCreosote Well-Known Member

    Won't someone think of the poor souls who are forced to read about someone else's pain and suffering?

    Why is the word "ethics" even being mentioned? It's someone's personal Twitter feed. Read it. Or don't. No one cares about your reaction to it.
     
  4. Dick Whitman

    Dick Whitman Well-Known Member

    There are policy implications.
     
  5. TheSportsPredictor

    TheSportsPredictor Well-Known Member

    Really. Who really cares how YOU felt about it.
     
  6. Boom_70

    Boom_70 Well-Known Member

    What do you mean "policy applications"?
     
  7. YankeeFan

    YankeeFan Well-Known Member

    A note posted in place of the column said the newspaper had judged it “inconsistent” with its “editorial code.” A second notice soon replaced it. “This post has been removed pending investigation,” it said.

    A Guardian spokesman declined to comment on the nature of the paper’s investigation. He also said Keller was not available.

    The issue, it appears, is that Keller quoted an exchange of direct messages with Adams without Adams’s knowledge or permission, a violation of journalism ethics. Keller acknowledged as much in an update to the original article: “Given her health, I could have given [Adams] advance warning about the article and should have told her that I planned to quote from our conversations. I regret not doing so.”
     
  8. MisterCreosote

    MisterCreosote Well-Known Member

    Keller's wife mentioned ethics in the original article, referring to Adams.

    As far as Keller himself, I can't think of a good reason why he should write anything beyond this:

    "I cannot imagine Lisa Adams reaching a point where resistance gives way to acceptance. That is entirely her choice, and deserving of our respect."
     
  9. Dick Whitman

    Dick Whitman Well-Known Member

    Because there are policy implications.
     
  10. YankeeFan

    YankeeFan Well-Known Member

    Ah. Sorry.
     
  11. MisterCreosote

    MisterCreosote Well-Known Member

    Handling your own death is one of the most deeply personal things one can do.

    Fuck policy implications.
     
  12. Dick Whitman

    Dick Whitman Well-Known Member

    It's a deeply personal thing informed by the idea that fighting to the end is a way to potentially extend one's life. If this isn't the case, and research indicates that this isn't the case, then Keller takes on the legitimate task of combating what Adams has been selling to her thousands of followers.
     
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