Beijing French School Teen Sweethearts Believed Aboard Malaysia Airlines Flight

A high school romance or close friendship has emerged as one tragic story from the missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH 370, with two students of Beijing's Lycee Francais International de Pekin listed as being aboard the flight.

French teens Hadrien Wattrelos and Zhao Yan both appeared on a passenger manifest published by Malaysia Airlines Saturday evening. Both are enrolled at the Lycee Francais International de Pekin, also known as the French School, a former French School parent and student told the Beijinger. Based on ages included on the passenger list, Wattrelos is now 17, Zhao, 18. Lycee Francais representatives could not be reached for comment Saturday night.

Although neither had included "relationship status" as part of their public profile on Facebook, the two were clearly very close. Wattrelos appears in Zhao's profile photo. On Wattrelos's page, a selfie of the two together was posted on July 29, 2013, accompanied by the words "Je t'aime" ("I love you"). Both listed Paris, France as their hometown on Facebook, and both are French citizens.

Two other passengers on the manifest, Laurence Wattrelos, 52, and Ambre Wattrelos, 14, are believed to be Hadrien's mother and sister, respectively. Ambre is also a student at the French School and Laurence is listed as vice president of the Association des Parents D'Eleves du Lycee Francais International de Pekin, a French parent-teacher organization, on that group's website. 

They are among 239 passengers and crew that went missing after flight MH 370 took off from Kuala Lumpur after midnight Saturday, and lost contact with air traffic control about two hours later. The plane was scheduled to land at about 6:30am Saturday morning.

The Wall Street Journal reports that the patriarch of the Wattrelos family was on his way to Beijing at the time the flight was reported missing and was met by French consular officials at the airport and brough to the Metropark Beijing hotel where families and friends are awaiting news of the fate of the flight.

Other Beijingers among the missing are husband and wife Muktesh Mukherjee and Bai Xiaomo, who are Canadian citizens and parents of two small children. According to the manifest, their children did not appear to be traveling with them.

As of 11pm Beijing time, no sign of the plane has been found, although latest news reports indicate that Vietnamese search teams are looking into oil slicks that could have been caused by a plane crash. Live updates on the search are available on the Wall Street Journal, The Guardian and China Daily.

Photo: aefe-asie.net

Editor's note: the images originally accompanying this blog post have been removed at the request of the Wattrelos family.

Comments

New comments are displayed first.

Hey, TBJ, thanks for taking those pics down. And wanted to echo TX_Chick: could we perhaps remove some of these comments now that the pics have been deleted? Not to get rid of this lovely record of dissent, but just, you know, to avoid causing more distress for any who have been touched by this horrible event.

Doubt wisely; in strange way / To stand inquiring right is not to stray; / To sleep, or run wrong, is. (Donne, Satire III)

I really hope the members of the family aren't still reading this. Maybe it's time to delete most of the comments since the pictures have been removed?

Your defence is pretty wafer-thin if the best you can manage is 'look, someone else is behaving worse than me'.

Oh well. Whatever your reasons for taking down the photos, at least now you have taken them down. Lesson learned and we can move on.

Thank you to the editor for taking the photos off. The family shouldn't have had to ask in the first place however.

I hope Mr Schwankert remember next time he writes an article to be a little more thoughtful

FYI, tbj Editorial;

http://digital.community-journalism.net/askanexpert/answers/can-i-use-facebook-photo-news-story-with

Dr. Chip Stewart wrote:
I'm going to guess that the reporters who dug up these photos didn't get them through a publicist or ask for, much less receive, any permission to publish them. This approach comes from the classic Internet culture of "I found it online, and it's free, so I must be able to use it." And that worked out so well for Napster, right? Two issues come up in this scenario - one legal, one ethical. Legally, I see a huge copyright issue here. Whoever took that photo has a copyright in it, attaching the moment the photo button was pushed. It's an original work of authorship in a fixed medium of expression. The copyright act couldn't be clearer on this.

Very rarely do challenegs to soicla media photos come up, but fi they did, for either you or other media organisations, you might not simply walk away the winners.

I'm guessing you didn't get permission from whoever took the photo of the two friends that your article originally had. According to legal analysis in the reports above, you, as a for-profit company, would be unlikely to win if sued, as it's unlikely you could prove Fair Use, according to the standard.

Of course, that would only apply to the States. Hell knows what laws would apply here.

Hey, JayShaw, any thoughts on how that legal challenge would work here, hypothetically speaking?

For me, yes, the pictures were in poor taste...but your speculation about their relationship, was unneccesary, and was missing from everyone elses articles. this is what was tabloid-esque:

A high school romance or close friendship has emerged as one tragic story from the missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH 370, with two students of Beijing's Lycee Francais International de Pekin listed as being aboard the flight.

I believe that this is what was unneccesary in your article that you stand by so loyally. But thank you for taking down the pictures at least.

charlesliu]</p> <p>[quote=BumbleBeeTou wrote:

"The human condition of having ideals and compassion are completely bereft of mutual attachment, and shall the two always be asunder." -- said no one ever

Welcome to the world of real journalism.

Reporting facts without feeling. Only truth.

BumbleBeeTou wrote:

I don't think I ever disagreed with the use of the photos. I am just disagreeing with what appears, IMHO, to be tbj taking conflicting positions on this issue.

"The human condition of having ideals and compassion are completely bereft of mutual attachment, and shall the two always be asunder." -- said no one ever

 

Steven Schwankert wrote:

BBT,

We ran the story and a few people objected, and now we've removed the photos at the request of the family, which we respect, and you object. If we ever get anything right, please let us know.

I stand by the story. We serve our community in good times and bad. We do it responsibly and adhere to accepted principles of journalism. Other news outlets have disclosed far more about the people involved than we did, and yet nary a word has been said about it. I'm not convinced those outlets know this community better than we do, and are far less sensitive to community feelings than we are. What would have been irresponsible and shameful is if we had ignored the situation, if we had not made any effort to call attention to the missing or show what the loss to the community will be if the ultimate outcome is not a positive one.

I often wonder what other news sources our most frequent commentators read, that their view of the world, and therefore their view of the Beijinger, is so skewed as to produce this kind of reaction to a human interest story about what would be such a sad loss if confirmed.

First off, most readers of this blog/website consider tbj a community publication, and will thsu hold you and your editorial endeavors in a different regard to mainstream media/tabloids.

Unlike my objection to the "photographer" remark, I'm too far removed from thsi situation to 'judge' you either way. That was never my intention. It was my intention to point out that you say you stand my your efforts, and for Admin to defend the use of the picture "because other people do it" but then to still take down the image becuase you were asked to, and not retract said commernts, or address the fact that despite what you have said to others, you still believe removing the photos after, at the request of the family, was the right thing to do.

But if taking them down showed respect for the family, why post them in the first place? Didn't you think that the family, which would be a lot closer to a community publication like tbj than the Daily Mail, would mind?

Again, it's only my opinion, and matters little to anyone else, but I still think, maybe incorrectly, that maybe you shouldn't try to hold both positions at once.

P.S - Your re-analysis of the "restraurant stolen from expat by evil ex-employ" story a few months ago. You got that right, as I said at the time.

charlesliu wrote:

So: the posting of the Facebook photos is the main offense that you disagree with, but you're still unable to support the action of taking them down once it happens?

I suppose being self-righteous is something that is its own reward.

I don't think I ever disagreed with the use of the photos. I am just disagreeing with what appears, IMHO, to be tbj taking conflicting positions on this issue.

I'm sorry if you think I'm being self-righteous Charlie. As i said, I don't intend to come off that way. I'm just saying what I'm seeing.

BBT,

We ran the story and a few people objected, and now we've removed the photos at the request of the family, which we respect, and you object. If we ever get anything right, please let us know.

I stand by the story. We serve our community in good times and bad. We do it responsibly and adhere to accepted principles of journalism. Other news outlets have disclosed far more about the people involved than we did, and yet nary a word has been said about it. I'm not convinced those outlets know this community better than we do, and are far less sensitive to community feelings than we are. What would have been irresponsible and shameful is if we had ignored the situation, if we had not made any effort to call attention to the missing or show what the loss to the community will be if the ultimate outcome is not a positive one.

I often wonder what other news sources our most frequent commentators read, that their view of the world, and therefore their view of the Beijinger, is so skewed as to produce this kind of reaction to a human interest story about what would be such a sad loss if confirmed.

BumbleBeeTou wrote:

But in the end, you took it down, because you are simply empathic and good at heart, right?

So: the posting of the Facebook photos is the main offense that you disagree with, but you're still unable to support the action of taking them down once it happens?

I suppose being self-righteous is something that is its own reward.

 

 

 

Steven Schwankert wrote:

Please be sure to notify CBC as well of your objections to using Facebook photos:

I stand by our story.

admin wrote:

I find that the image now used in probably more than half of the news reports on this incident -- the in-your-face photo of the woman desperately crying into her phone while awaiting news of her loved ones on the flight -- to be far more invasive, offensive and insensitive an image than what is used in this post.

admin wrote:

Be sure to add the Wall Street Journal, The Telegraph, CBC, The New York Times and a number of other sources that have used text and images from public social media profiles in their stories to your scumbag list

Are these some of the things you said to the Wattrelos family before finally removing the images?

I mean, you've repeatedly said in comments here that other 'repuatable' news sources do it, so you should be able to. So I'm guessing, as professional journalists, you 'stood by your work' and told the family that in the interest of the public, and the fact that everyone else does it, you would continue to use the photo.

But in the end, you took it down, because you are simply empathic and good at heart, right? Probably nothing to do with threats of legal action, right?

And what does it matter which photo you use? Your articles will still get all that international traffic that you crave so much, as long as it has all the important keywords in for search results, right?

Good luck Admin. I'm sure the National Enquirer will be emailling you soon, asking for your 'expert local opinion' on how the Beijing expat community is reacting to the news.

I find that the image now used in probably more than half of the news reports on this incident -- the in-your-face photo of the woman desperately crying into her phone while awaiting news of her loved ones on the flight -- to be far more invasive, offensive and insensitive an image than what is used in this post.

 

 

Books by current and former Beijinger staffers

http://astore.amazon.com/truerunmedia-20

I think the general reaction to this Beijinger piece (almost universally negative both in the comments here and on other Beijing forums) is a better guide to how this topic should be treated than the argument that "others did it, so why can't we?"

Yes, Facebook and social media sites are all technically public (even though many people still largely ignore the privacy settings and post for their friends only), and use of a picture is pretty standard, but the third paragraph is unnecessary IMO. There is huge interest in this story - and it's a great spot to piece together the above - but it still needs to be treated extremely sensitively.

As for the Lycee Francais representatives, what did they have to say on Sunday, or on Monday morning? Are they fine with all these details appearing? What about the families? The Facebook-is-public argument only goes so far.

ohdjango wrote:
The passenger manifest does a perfectly adequate job of humanising this story.

I don't think you understand what "humanize" means. The passenger manifest supplies scale. Names and faces and stories humanize.

ohdjango wrote:
No need to trawl these kids' facebook profiles indulging in some Daily Mail-esque ghoulishness.

Daily Mail would be illegally hunting down a home number and harassing a family member. This story is comprised entirely of public statements made on a public website. False equivalence is false.

Look -- you are of course perfectly free to be as outraged as you like about anything you like. Just as I am perfectly free to comment that I feel your outrage is completely misplaced, and your personal attacks unwarranted. This story engenders strong feelings. We are all connected to it. I appreciate knowing a little more about the passengers on the plane as it reminds me that everyone's story is as important as my own. It causes me to think about my words and want to be kinder to others.

It's sad that what this event has done for some is make them want to blame someone, anyone, including journalists who write stories about it (because they're available?)

Peace.

PrettyPatheticLife wrote:

Big difference, a lot of MINORS are involved in your story which make it a whole different ball game. But I  learned a long time ago arguing with scumbag was useless... You prove me right. THANK YOU. 

Be sure to add the Wall Street Journal, The Telegraph, CBC, The New York Times and a number of other sources that have used text and images from public social media profiles in their stories to your scumbag list

 

Books by current and former Beijinger staffers

http://astore.amazon.com/truerunmedia-20

for online subscribers of the Wall Street Journal

A Reunion With Family Turns Tragic
French Businessman's Wife and Children Never Arrived

http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702304020104579429022641245470

Quote:

The three Wattrelos family members and Ms. Zhao had spent four days at a resort run by Club Mediterranee SA called Cherating Beach. Their names were registered at the hotel, according to a Club Med desk clerk; photos dated over the past week or so, apparently taken by Ms. Zhao and posted to one of her social media accounts, show monkeys, palm trees and a long stretch of beach.

In 2007, Mr. Wattrelos moved from a European job to run Lafarge’s concrete business in China. At the end of last year, Mr. Wattrelos returned to France to become senior vice president of group strategy at Lafarge, according to his LinkedIn profile and family friends. The company didn’t respond to requests to comment.

The family decided to remain in China until June so that teenager Hadrien could complete his academic year at Lycée Français International de Pékin, friends said. The daughter Ambre also attended that French school in Beijing, as did Ms. Zhao, according to her Facebook profile. Lycée Français officials didn’t respond to questions over the weekend.

The friends said Mr. Wattrelos traveled between Beijing and Paris. In preparation for their move from China, the Wattrelos clan had been planning a joint going-away party in June with the family of another French business executive that also planned to leave in the summertime; invitations were already sent, one family friend said.

Books by current and former Beijinger staffers

http://astore.amazon.com/truerunmedia-20

esskayarrr wrote:

This is a sensitively written story which humanizes a terrible, awful tragedy,

The passenger manifest does a perfectly adequate job of humanising this story. No need to trawl these kids' facebook profiles indulging in some Daily Mail-esque ghoulishness.

Big difference, a lot of MINORS are involved in your story which make it a whole different ball game. But I learned a long time ago arguing with scumbag was useless... You prove me right. THANK YOU.

Pathetic,

Please be sure to notify CBC as well of your objections to using Facebook photos:

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/malaysia-airlines-2-canadians-were-on-missing-plane-1.2565264

I stand by our story.

 

Yep a summary but they at least had the decency to not copy your stolen pictures for their article.

Ever heard of copyright on photography at your "journalist" school even if you don't see how despicable using the picture is ?

The fake-outrage posts above are astonishingly ignorant.

1. Every media outlet in the world is using social media to track this story. As they should. The fact that we are all connected to this somehow is worth covering.

2. This is a sensitively written story which humanizes (what at this stage appears to be) a terrible, awful tragedy, and it does so in a way specific to the Beijing expats who are the community this magazine serves.

3. I'm sure the story's writer and the magazine's publisher will thank you for posting a link to an attributed summary of this article from another news source. There is no more sincere compliment.

If you are desperate for something to be offended by, then perhaps be offended by the modern instinct to claim offense at everything, thereby "proving" yourself somehow superior to others. In the face of a genuine human drama, I find THAT offensive.

Beijing123, re-read that: it's a summary of our article.

Wow, this is really low.

Didn't realize you changed your name to "The Beijing SUN"

In case you want to know how it's done:

From Shanghaiist:

UPDATE (12:14am): Via TheBeijinger: Two students of Beijing's Lycee Francais International de Pekin, Hadrien Wattrelos and Zhao Yan, are believed to have been on board the missing flight MH370. They were accompanied on the flight by Laurence and Ambre Wattrelos, believed to be Hadrien's mother and sister, respectively. Laurence Wattrelos is vice-president of the parent-teacher organisation at the French school. Other Beijing expats on board were Canadian citizens Muktesh Mukherjee and Bai Xiaomo.

Yeah. Really lame journalism. On top of that it's creepy as hell.

Hey Pretty Pathetic Life, you beat me to it while I was creating a logon but I will add my 2 cents worth!

Swankert, this is incredibly indispicable and unprofessional. I hope you do not think you are clever journalist to have trolled around on the web and stolen their FB pictures to support your article.

Have a bit of human decency and respect for the family and especially the friends of these kids who will have to face this when they return to school after the holidays.

If you have any bit of conscience, I hope I will not see this article and our comments tomorrow morning when I wake up.

Are you kidding me? You had to go on the Facebook profile (of a minor on top of it) and steal pictures (pretty sure you didn't ask permission) for a story. Please have some dignity.