Terror survivors urge media to change attack coverage

Victims of terrorism have issued an impassioned call for the way media organisations report on attacks to change, after some were harassed and left “traumatised”.

- LIZZIE DEARDEN

Victims of terrorism have issued an impassioned call for the way media organisations report on attacks to change, after some were harassed and left “traumatised”.

The Survivors Against Terror group said a survey of more than 100 people who had survived attacks found that intrusion by journalists was “endemic”.

A report published today urged media outlets to sign a voluntary agreement on approaching bereaved families, and to change the way photos of attacks, victims and terrorists are used to help reduce distress.

A man who fought a terrorist with a narwhal tusk during the 2019 Fishmongers’ Hall attack told The Independent how a journalist attempted to “trick” him into talking about his actions before his role had been made public.

Darryn Frost, a civil servant, had been attending a prison education conference when Usman Khan went on a knife rampage that left two victims dead.

Mr Frost fought Khan inside Fishmongers’ Hall using the ornamental tusk, then chased him out onto London Bridge with other attendees including two ex-offenders. Khan, who was wearing a fake suicide vest, was shot dead by police.

In the days after the attack, confusion over the different roles played by the men who battled Khan saw actions attributed to the wrong people.

“That caused a lot of hurt,” Mr Frost said. “I got some emails on the first night after the attack about my role. Work put me in a hotel so no one could track me at home and knock on the door.”