What value, other than commercial, is there in MSNBC and other broadcast outlets, letting us here the anguished calls for help to 9-1-1 operators from panicked people caught in yesterday's torrent of water in Maryland?

I know how you will answer this, or at least suspect how you will answer this, so I have another question, below the fold, so to speak:


Why are these 9-1-1 tapes in the public domain? Before we criticize the police agencies for disclosing them, why are they being requested?

I understand that when someone is in a dire predicament and calls 9-1-1 for help, they have given up a degree of their right to privacy: they are, after all, calling a government agency and asking for taxpayer resources to be applied to their situation. If their conversation is evidence of a crime, or has some relevance to a lawsuit or even a budgetary issue (how well does 9-1-1 work, etc?) the use of those conversations is not subject to the veto of the caller.

It seems to me, though, that such a caller should not have to consider the idea that their panic will become entertainment on cable tv. I wonder as well, whether the prospect of such broadcasts might deter someone who is considering asking for help, but wondering if he or she really needs it, from calling altogether.

Just because you can get these recordings, why do you have to ask for them, and having acquired them, why must they be broadcast?