First on scene

My sister (an aspiring medialite and the best darn barista in the Denver area) was sharing with me last night how a Denver TV news crew was first to a fairly serious accident outside her coffee shop yesterday. We were debating how soon is too soon for the media to show up at an accident. In this case, that's probably too soon. Because, unless you're the sleazy British paparzzi, you then have an obligation to help people involved in the accident. Then, you become part of the story and then what the hell are you reporting. My preference for covering an accident (weeklies aren't normally big ambulance chasers) is to arrive quickly and hang back to let emergency personnel do their job. I just can't be a hypocrite. I get so annoyed when I can't write a story because a cop or firefighter is hogging my computer. What do you think? Does the media cross the line?