Some western media sources would bury that within an article as basically a footnote unless they said something "juicy", i know this because a friend of mine died abroad (fell from the balcony of a hotel) and the hotel seemed to say nothing about it until i looked into articles from their language and found them clearly offering their condolences, in english articles it was a sentence buried inside a defamatory article. Not saying that's the case but it happens a lot, the medias job is to drum up interest in their stories after all and conflicts/conspiracies sell.
All is my opinion .... Please feel free to disagree..
The Media is going to cover news/stories. They will cover the negative, always. They will cover postive and human interest, if it sells.
There are two choice ....
*Go public, befriend the media, issue statements of help the resort was providing. Provide interesting information regarding the community's help, what they are doing ...examples, providing food, shelter for the searchers, welcoming the foreign representatives, providing transportation. Embracing and comforting the family. Welcoming and begging for leads, even if they know there are none.
*Lock down and go silent. Alienating the media is dangerous to any business/government/person. Media has power and the attention of the world. You cannot win against the media. Every negative will be front page news. Every time someone does not speak becomes a focus... conspiracy, cover up, lack of human compassion, etc.
I had a political event, a very radical national protest group stated their attendance. National media swarmed in. The city wanted to ban the group. Nope, I set up hospitality tents severing food, beverages, provided parking and potties for the protesters. We hit front page and all national TV, as gracious and very hospitable. This PR would have cost us millions on the commercial market, we had 2k in our cost.
It's how you chose you play the cards.
Nora's family was very smart to embrace the media from day one. The media has portray the family in a positive light, gaining worldwide sympathy.
I'm not saying anyone is right or wrong. The family, the government, or the media. Just trying to explain how the media can be used to an advantage or disadvantage.
JMO