If a largely unconnected public can feel the level of shock, grief and outrage shown by the western media following the tragedy of the attack on the World Trade Center and its aftermath, what must the family members of the 5,000 casualties have felt as the traumatic images were broadcast around the world? Does the media owe the families and loved ones of the victims a duty not to show images that it can foresee will cause extreme distress?

Shock, in the sense of psychiatric injury or damage, is an injury recognised by English law. In 1992, the House of Lords considered whether the relatives of the victims of the Hillsborough disaster, who watched live television broadcasts or listened to radio reports, could claim against the police for the shock suffered.