Wisconsin AG comments cause stir

Apparently, Wisconsin Attorney General JB Van Hollen is under fire for telling residents of Crandon, Wis., a city in which a part-time police officer is suspected of killing six people earlier this month, that they should not talk to the media about the incident. A spokesman for Van Hollen said that he was just passing on the wishes of the victims' families, but media outlets in the state are upset at what he said, because they believe he does not have the authority to tell people to remain silent and that he is just trying to make the media's job more difficult. Also, one principle of his campaign last year was that government should be transparent and information should be more readily available to the public, yet these comments seem contrary to that. However, one person in this article says the media is too aggressive in covering these stories and lack concern for the people involved. I just thought this was an interesting story, because it is important that the media covers stories like this that affect the community. On the other hand, I agree that sometimes reporters should be a bit more respectful and realize that people are emotional in situations like this, so they should not just be treated as a means to the end of producing an interesting story. I'm not really sure the state's AG should be telling people not to talk to the media, but I can understand if the people involved in this story just want to be left alone and not have cameras and reporters in their faces all the time. I think this is an issue where there is no absolute right or wrong, which makes it interesting to look at.