As a journalist who has covered these kinds of incidents and has been in exactly that situation, it isn’t a sign of disrespect.
Especially if the police are slow to notify the family. That should have been their first move. If reporters find out faster with the limited resources we have, then someone is just slacking.
And all the reporters are looking for knocking on the door is a quote from a family member to say some kind words and a picture to run in the paper. And it really is time sensitive and there’s an editor calling every 10 minutes asking where the quote and the photo are and about 15 other news outlets trying to get the same thing.
Eventually you get to know everyone doing the job and it’s easier if we all go at once rather than every outlet knocking individually asking for the same thing.
And the reporters are not going away. They are literally being paid to sit outside someone’s house all day until they’re ready to talk. And when it’s a national story, they will be there for days. And from experience, even when everyone is packed up and on the next national story, CNN will keep a truck there an extra 2-3 days just in case a follow up story comes along.
So if you’re ever in that position, wait until a few reporters show up. Make a statement, hand over a picture and usually that’s about the most of it.
And the reason we do it, because people want to know what happened and who the person was. And they should.
