How to Help Your Community Avoid the Media Spotlight

Nearly everyone has seen a broadcast of a reporter standing out front of a house where a heinous crime occurred or where a high-profile criminal lives. It is fairly standard for the media to congregate around the house. They want the video of the person accused of the crime leaving the house or of police in action around the house.

In most cases, the media will move on to the next story relatively quickly, leaving your neighborhood in peace, but other times, the media could stay at a house for a week or more. How long did the media stay in front of Casey Anthony and George Zimmerman’s houses? They were there for months.

As an association, it is imperative that you work to protect the residents of the community, and provide access to emergency vehicles and residents, but also understand that the reporters are trying to do their job too and are not there to cause an issue for you and your residents.

The attorneys at The Orlando Law Group can help associations put together a plan for when the media are interested in your community to ensure you stay within your legal rights, along with working to help lessen the impact when it happens.

Why would reporters visit a neighborhood?

Keep in mind, that nearly all media in any city have access to police radios. They are listening closely for any event that might be of interest to their viewers or readers. When they hear something of interest, they actively work to find as much information as possible about those involved.

Myriad events could trigger a reporter to enter your community.

Perhaps there was a murder at the house. Maybe the homeowner is an elected official caught with a prostitute. It is not rare for homeowners to be producing narcotics or growing marijuana in the garage. The resident could be the victim of a mass shooting away from the neighborhood.

While it sounds grim, no one wants to think that could happen to their neighborhood, it is important to be ready for when it happens, because, for nearly every community, something will happen eventually.

The communities that are prepared are the ones that will be able to move through the situation with minimal disruptions.

Can an association prevent the media from entering a community?

As is the case with so many questions pertaining to the law, the answer is that it depends.

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