The sad news reached us last night that a 24-year old man has died whilst at Global Gathering. Unfortunately, whilst the death is unexplained and still being investigated, some media outlets couldn’t resist mentioning drugs. Mixmag says:
“This tragic death comes after Warwickshire Police released the following statement on Twitter about the appearance of a killer drug at the festival known as ‘Dr Death’.
‘Dr Death or Chicken Yellow aka PMA or PMMA has been found at #global12. This drug is potentiallyl fatal. Pls be aware. pls retweet.’
Global Gathering played host to over 40,000 music fans and artists such as Skrillex, Chase & Status and Tinie Tempah played at the event.”
Whilst we fully support increasing awareness of the dangers of drugs, mention of drug use and abuse in an article about the death of a man is wholly inappropriate. Though Mixmag did not suggest he died from drug usage, the mention of drugs should not have arisen, but instead been treated completely separately and talked about in a separate article.
These lapses in responsible reporting and moral code are disappointing and we hope that other media outlets resist the urge to so much as mention drugs in relation to this tragic incident, until we know better. Meanwhile, our thoughts are with his family and friends during this difficult and sad time.
