Majority Of Out-Of-Town Media Leaves Newtown, Connecticut

The majority of out-of-town media has finally left Newtown, Connecticut, to the relief of many local residents and news outlets.

The tragic shooting of twenty-seven victims, including twenty elementary school children, almost two weeks ago brought hundreds of journalists to Newtown. Local residents — and even journalists themselves — have been spoken out against the media's presence in the community as well as their tactics, imploring reporters to leave and allow people to mourn in peace.

Newtown Bee Associate Editor Shannon Hicks, who also lamented the crush of reporters, told Poynter that the majority of out-of-town media left after the last funeral this past weekend.

"There was a growing resentment of the fact that the non-local media seemed to be waiting for that final funeral to be held," she wrote. "There was no need, in the eyes of many — myself included — for those funerals to have been covered, and for the families of the victims to have to go through a throng of cameras in order to reach each church or synagogue."

She said that her own newspaper sent one photographer to one funeral with instructions to take just a single photo, capturing the camera crews lined up across the street from the funeral home. Click over to Poynter for the rest of the story.