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When news facts are painful
I've been involved with newspapers in some fashion 58 years. I was 14 when
the Santa Rosa Press Democrat allowed me to deliver 214 papers six days a
week from the back of my bike. That's not quite as bad as it sounds. Papers
were small. Ad supplements were still somewhere in the future. Later I
worked after school, doing a variety of jobs for the newspaper.
Ever since, after the army, and college, I've been involved with
newspapers, selling display and classified ads, handling circulation,
serving as "Production Manager", but rarely on the news side. The exception
is this column, but The Reactor is a hobby I do because I enjoy it, even
though I'm retired.
My point? I've watched and admired many editors and reporters as they do
their work, but I've never done their job as a way to earn a living. I've
seen editors and publishers deal with many touchy subjects. I've learned
the average reporter and editor is very conscientious and concerned about
the feelings of people, sometimes to the detriment of the way he does his
or her job. I'd prefer to use precise addresses, not a fudge copout like
"the 1600 block of Palmetto Ave." I'd prefer "Mrs. Jones", or "Miss Jones"
or even that god-awful compromise "Ms" to "Jones", when referring to a
woman. I'd be ashamed to produce or be associated with the National
Enquirer, but a community newspaper should not shrink from reporting news,
even though the facts cause some people pain. The Tribune reported the
facts almost three decades ago, when my neighbor's mentally ill son cut off
his father's head and threw it in the street. The Tribune reported the
facts when a giant corporation, Chevron, was responsible for a serious oil
spill that fouled our beaches. The Tribune reported the facts when a local
Catholic Priest, (a man I admired and whose memory I still respect), was
discovered to be married and have a son. I greatly sympathized with the
pain my former neighbors went through when their son, the center of all
their hopes, died in a terrible car accident.
Which brings me to the unfortunate story, printed in a completely
understated, almost laconic recitation of the dreadful facts in the March 3
Police Beat, about the death of 23 year old Charlotte Virginia O'Leary.
I've been aware for years that Police Beat is one of the best read parts of
this newspaper, read more faithfully, for example, than the column of
opinion you peruse at this moment. Though understated, without any kind of
headlines, the facts listed in the March 3 column caused pain to her friend
Jeanette Coreris. Her letter of March 10 used words like "upset and
disgusted", "exposed her private life", "right to privacy", "no one's
business", "exploited like a freak."
I offer my condolences to Ms. Coreris over the loss of her friend, whose
death was suspected to have resulted from a drug overdose. Ms. Coreris, it
appears, would have preferred the death not be reported, or held to five or
ten words max. If I'd been the editor, on the other hand, I might have used
the story on the front page top right, with a large picture and a bold
headline.
Editors must make many news judgments every day. Sometimes when you don't
find this column in its usual spot, it's because the editor has made a
judgment that that particular week there's more important or more urgent
news.
Sometimes the items condensed into Police Beat could fill several pages
instead of a few low key paragraphs. It's a matter of judgment. That's what
editors do.
Paul Azevedo's e mail address is Paul@thereactor.net
Check The Reactor's website at www.thereactor.net.
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