8.30am arrive at work chirpy, enjoying sunshine, full of story ideas for the week.
8.31am find out someone died overnight and a death knock is in the offing. Mellow well and truly harshed.
8.31am find out someone died overnight and a death knock is in the offing. Mellow well and truly harshed.
Doing a deathknock is one of the most difficult parts of the job. For the uninitiated, it’s where you have to approach the family of someone who has died and find out what happened and get them to agree to a tribute.
It’s tough because the responses range from tears, to hostility, to being escorted off the premises with an earful. Death knocks for children or people who have died unexpectedly are always extremely hard because the family is always in shock. As always, the balance between what is expected of you to get the story and how mindful to be of a grieving family is tricky.
Sitting outside someone’s home in your car trying to muster the confidence to knock on their front door can be really lonely so if you prepare yourself, you’ll make it easier.
For all new journalists, I would give the following tips:
1) Leave your car unlocked. Just in case you have to leg it back in a hurry.
2) Write out a little script if you need to be clear about exactly what to say.
3) If you’re unsure whether or not you are knocking on the door of the right family, glance in the window – are there bereavement cards? Otherwise, you’ll probably have a pretty good idea from their face as soon as they open the door.
4) Don’t forget to ask for a photo – take a picture of an existing photo if you can, or take a picture away to scan and return.
5) Dress smartly – it really will get you through the door if you can be sympathetic and polite.
6) Saying something positive like ‘We’re looking to put together a tribute’ is best as it puts the ball back in the family’s court.
7) If you have to ask to go to the funeral, you can say it’s so people who can’t go can get an account and you’ll stay away from talking to anyone. If the family says they’re not interested, ask if you can call back again – sometimes they change their mind once they’ve thought about it. Be mindful, however, of the PCC's Code of Conduct - don't harrass.
8) If you’re stuck trying to find the right person’s house but have a name, go through the residential addresses on BT and just call each one saying, ‘I’m looking for the family of ………’ – you don’t have to go into details because they’ll know why you’re ringing if they’re the right family.
9) Try to put yourself in their position – is it a posh house? Are they old? If someone you loved had just died, what kind of approach would you like?
Sometimes people seem to find it therapeutic to put together a tribute and you'll sit having tea with the family, so try not to have a sense of dread about it.
