I’m not really talking about huge news events here, but for say a murder: the family won’t know you’ve got a police press release, they won’t know you’ve seen the tributes from friends on Facebook and are aware who the victim is, and that the story will be in the paper tomorrow.
Often the family will really appreciate the heads-up, and the opportunity to tell their side.
An example: I once spoke to the family of a murdered drug dealer. The picture they painted of him was very different to the one the police had. They gave me their chosen pictures to use