Letter: Good grief!

Wednesday 19 May 1999 00:02 BST

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Sir: You report today (17 May) that the BBC "will be setting up a victim support line for those who want to talk about their grief" having watched the Crimewatch UK broadcast which would have been presented by Jill Dando. By what distortion of even the vocabulary of recreational grief can television viewers be regarded as "victims" of Jill Dando's murder? Who precisely are the "victims" who will take part in the "brief and simple tribute" to the murdered presenter?

One is saddened by anyone's murder, but is it not time that the media stopped pandering to (and encouraging) these spurious outpourings of "grief"?

FREDERICK LANGLEY

Hessle, East Yorkshire

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