A student walks onstage to accept his university degree and moons the audience.
Is that newsworthy?
Nope.
But, if that student is the son of a federal politician? Is it then newsworthy.
Again, no.
James Mcleod, son of Kamloops-Thompson-Cariboo Conservative MP Cathy McLeod did just that on Thursday at Thompson Rivers University.
Our photographer, Dave Eagles, was at that very ceremony, but was taking down some information for another photo he shot when James offered the audience a glimpse of his derriere.
Eagles heard the laughter and asked what the buzz was all about.
He returned to the newsroom and told me about it. We chuckled and I said I'd think about it, in response to his question of whether we should run with it.
The mooning occurred a few hours after our Friday paper had gone to press, so the only option was to post the "story" on the web.
But, I thought it over and decided we were far too busy covering stories on the KXA ceasing operation, the follow-up to Chief Shane Gottfriedson's second-place finish in the B.C. regional chief election, the Balbar murder trial and a host of other tasks to push something out of the way for a mooning.
Besides, had we had time, I still would have decided against running with the story as it would only serve to put the spotlight on our MP, who had nothing whatsoever to do with what was a harmless prank, one undertaken with common regularity.
I put this out there as an explanation as to why KTW did not have anything on the incident, while it was on Radio NL and on the front page of the Saturday Kamloops Daily News.
It's a funny story, to be sure, and one that I could see as an odd little piece somewhere inside a newspaper.
But as the lead story on page A1?
Hardly.
What really makes me chuckle is the inherent contradiction in the Daily News' decision to splash this university prank as the most important story in its Saturday edition.
For, if you wander over to the blog of Daily News editor Mel Rothenburger, he all but dismisses the incident and opines that it has nothing to do with McLeod as an MP:
He writes: "Mooning a normally dignified and stately occasion may not have been in the best of taste, but it’s not exactly a constituency matter. It’s something for Cathy McLeod the mother, not Cathy McLeod the MP, to deal with."
Yet the Daily News headline blared to the world that the butt belonged to the son of the MP.
"It's not exactly a constituency matter," yet it is front-page news.
Hmmm ...
Saturday, October 3, 2009
Thursday, August 6, 2009
The shorts heard 'round the world
The province is burning, the provincial government’s HST will increase the cost of living, Convergys is saying goodbye to Kamloops — and the story that has the most tongues wagging is the tale of Mohd Abdullah and his short shorts.
Kamloops This Week was the media outlet to first report on Adbullah’s ongoing debate with the city’s Tournament Capital Centre as to whether the shorts he prefers are a tad too skimpy for the public gym.
When Abdullah walked into the newsroom of KTW last week and gave us a synopsis of his tale, it was obvious his ongoing disagreement with TCC manager Clint Andersen would be a news story of interest.
But little did we realize how far and wide Abdullah’s clothing contretemps would travel.
The story was carried by local media. It was picked up on by the provincial media.
It was covered by the national media. It was the subject of ink in dozens of other newspapers from coast to coast.
Then there are the countless blogs and other websites that have linked to our original story.
The day the story ran on our website at kamloopsthisweek.com — that would be eight days ago — the editor of this newspaper received a phone call from Fox News in New York City, requesting permission to use our photo of Abdullah.
Then there was an e-mail query from a reporter in Perth, Australia . . .
The short story of Mohd Abdullah and his brief(s) battle is the stuff of water-cooler legend and can spread like the fires now engulfing B.C.
It speaks to the nature of the story and to the power of the Internet, which can and often does transform a cute local story and photo into an international debate.As for those shorts?
They are eyebrow-raising, to be sure, but nothing a good-quality jockstrap wouldn’t cure.javascript:void(0)
Kamloops This Week was the media outlet to first report on Adbullah’s ongoing debate with the city’s Tournament Capital Centre as to whether the shorts he prefers are a tad too skimpy for the public gym.
When Abdullah walked into the newsroom of KTW last week and gave us a synopsis of his tale, it was obvious his ongoing disagreement with TCC manager Clint Andersen would be a news story of interest.
But little did we realize how far and wide Abdullah’s clothing contretemps would travel.
The story was carried by local media. It was picked up on by the provincial media.
It was covered by the national media. It was the subject of ink in dozens of other newspapers from coast to coast.
Then there are the countless blogs and other websites that have linked to our original story.
The day the story ran on our website at kamloopsthisweek.com — that would be eight days ago — the editor of this newspaper received a phone call from Fox News in New York City, requesting permission to use our photo of Abdullah.
Then there was an e-mail query from a reporter in Perth, Australia . . .
The short story of Mohd Abdullah and his brief(s) battle is the stuff of water-cooler legend and can spread like the fires now engulfing B.C.
It speaks to the nature of the story and to the power of the Internet, which can and often does transform a cute local story and photo into an international debate.As for those shorts?
They are eyebrow-raising, to be sure, but nothing a good-quality jockstrap wouldn’t cure.javascript:void(0)
Friday, June 26, 2009
Verify, verify and, when you have — verify some more!
The death of Michael Jackson proved again the immediacy of the web in reporting news.
It also illustrated how susceptible even news organizations can be in believing a report before independently verifying it to be true.
When reports broke that Jackson had been rushed to the hospital in Los Angeles, the race was on between traditional media outlets — most notable the Los Angeles Times, Washington Post, New York Times and CNN — and their cyberspace peers — most notable TMZ.com and myriad Twitter users — to be the first to declare Jackson dead or confirm a recovery.
As far as I can tell, TMZ.com was first to report the demise of the King of Pop, which is not surprising since TMZ has evolved from a celebrity-gossip website fighting with sites such as Defamer to becoming the leader in celebrity scoops.
Even as TMZ was reporting Jackson's death at the age of 50, the Los Angeles Times and Washington Post were working on independent verification and had, at the same time as TMZ's declaration, Jackson in a coma.
From my viewpoint, it appeared as though the three organizations did what is supposed to be done in journalism — verify before publishing.
TMZ's focus is solely on celebrities; therefore, it stands to reason it would be ahead of the pack in reporting on celebrities since it likely has unparalleled sources in the field. The Times and Post, of course, are news organizations with a far more widespread mandate. If the story was a political scandal, TMZ wouldn't even be participating (providing the scandal was bereft of lewdness and any connection to Hollywood), while the Post and Times and various others would be on the case.
Now, so farm so good.
A celebrity icon falls ill and dies and new and old media are covering it the old-fashioned way, working contacts and publishing online by the minute as new information is gleaned.
However, amid this frenzy were what I would call Twidiots, those among us with Twitter accounts who began posting false reports of other celebrities dying this day.
Just before Jackson was rushed to hospital, Farrah Fawcett's death from cancer was announced, leaving June 25 as a momentous day in celebrity obituaries. Earlier in the week, Ed McMahon, the legendary sidekick to Johnny Carson, died.
Perhaps this trifecta of tragic news was too much for some Twidiots as word spread virally that actor Jeff Goldblum had died following a fall while filming a movie in New Zealand.
The odd thing is this rumour was quickly being reported as a rumour on various sites compiled by the Google news aggregator.
Harrison Ford was then offered up as dying and the whole thing got out of control.
Turns out Goldblum and Ford were and are very much alive and safely at home in America.
But the frenzied competition online means spurious rumours can become a line or two that resembles fact.
But such eagerness to not fall behind isn't limited to the web.
Our paper was caught in a similar situation this week concerning a story about a man who was assaulted and dropped off at Royal Inland Hospital here in Kamloops.
Details were scarce. All we knew was the man was in serious condition with head injuries, that a truck had been seized from the parking lot of a former strip club and that two people were being questioned by police.
Word soon got out that the man may have been shot in the head. Though the police would not comment on the nature of the man;s injuries, our reporter heard from some sources that the man had been shot, so we reported what we called an "apparent shooting."
Turns out the man had been beaten about the head, and not shot.
Even though we qualified the injury in our story by adding "apparent" to shooting, my headline stated it was a shooting.
And that's not good enough.
Sometimes in this business, with a deadline staring at you, you take a chance.
As the Chicago Tribune realized in 1948, Dewey did not defeat Truman.
And, as I found that this week, a beating is not a shooting.
You live and learn, and what we learned here is that verification will trump all else.
It also illustrated how susceptible even news organizations can be in believing a report before independently verifying it to be true.
When reports broke that Jackson had been rushed to the hospital in Los Angeles, the race was on between traditional media outlets — most notable the Los Angeles Times, Washington Post, New York Times and CNN — and their cyberspace peers — most notable TMZ.com and myriad Twitter users — to be the first to declare Jackson dead or confirm a recovery.
As far as I can tell, TMZ.com was first to report the demise of the King of Pop, which is not surprising since TMZ has evolved from a celebrity-gossip website fighting with sites such as Defamer to becoming the leader in celebrity scoops.
Even as TMZ was reporting Jackson's death at the age of 50, the Los Angeles Times and Washington Post were working on independent verification and had, at the same time as TMZ's declaration, Jackson in a coma.
From my viewpoint, it appeared as though the three organizations did what is supposed to be done in journalism — verify before publishing.
TMZ's focus is solely on celebrities; therefore, it stands to reason it would be ahead of the pack in reporting on celebrities since it likely has unparalleled sources in the field. The Times and Post, of course, are news organizations with a far more widespread mandate. If the story was a political scandal, TMZ wouldn't even be participating (providing the scandal was bereft of lewdness and any connection to Hollywood), while the Post and Times and various others would be on the case.
Now, so farm so good.
A celebrity icon falls ill and dies and new and old media are covering it the old-fashioned way, working contacts and publishing online by the minute as new information is gleaned.
However, amid this frenzy were what I would call Twidiots, those among us with Twitter accounts who began posting false reports of other celebrities dying this day.
Just before Jackson was rushed to hospital, Farrah Fawcett's death from cancer was announced, leaving June 25 as a momentous day in celebrity obituaries. Earlier in the week, Ed McMahon, the legendary sidekick to Johnny Carson, died.
Perhaps this trifecta of tragic news was too much for some Twidiots as word spread virally that actor Jeff Goldblum had died following a fall while filming a movie in New Zealand.
The odd thing is this rumour was quickly being reported as a rumour on various sites compiled by the Google news aggregator.
Harrison Ford was then offered up as dying and the whole thing got out of control.
Turns out Goldblum and Ford were and are very much alive and safely at home in America.
But the frenzied competition online means spurious rumours can become a line or two that resembles fact.
But such eagerness to not fall behind isn't limited to the web.
Our paper was caught in a similar situation this week concerning a story about a man who was assaulted and dropped off at Royal Inland Hospital here in Kamloops.
Details were scarce. All we knew was the man was in serious condition with head injuries, that a truck had been seized from the parking lot of a former strip club and that two people were being questioned by police.
Word soon got out that the man may have been shot in the head. Though the police would not comment on the nature of the man;s injuries, our reporter heard from some sources that the man had been shot, so we reported what we called an "apparent shooting."
Turns out the man had been beaten about the head, and not shot.
Even though we qualified the injury in our story by adding "apparent" to shooting, my headline stated it was a shooting.
And that's not good enough.
Sometimes in this business, with a deadline staring at you, you take a chance.
As the Chicago Tribune realized in 1948, Dewey did not defeat Truman.
And, as I found that this week, a beating is not a shooting.
You live and learn, and what we learned here is that verification will trump all else.
Thursday, June 4, 2009
Kamloops (Twice) This Week
So, it has happened.
Our community newspaper in Kamloops, one that was born in 1988 as a weekly and grew to a thrice-weekly publication in 1991, is taking a step back.
As of June 14, 2009, Kamloops This Week will become a twice-weekly publication as the Sunday edition is jettisoned.
This is not a surprise, as I have been awaiting this decision for months.
No, I did not have inside information. Heck, I was on vacation when I got the word.
But, when a number of other papers have done likewise and, so far, avoided massive revenue loss, it was, in my opinion, only a matter of time until the powers-that-be decided to add Kamloops This Week to the roster of papers that are now twice-weekly entities.
These include the largest community paper in the chain, the Surrey Leader, along with the Peace Arch (White Rock) News, Chilliwack Progress, Tri-City (Coquitlam) News and Penticton Western News.
It has been stated in our paper this decision will better position KTW as the newspaper industry continues its path through a very tumultuous time.
Maybe so, but the decision saddens me nonetheless.
To be clear, there are wiser minds than mine who make the big decisions in Black Press, and they obviously see this move as being necessary.
The cost of newsprint has essentially doubled in the past year, while the remaining costs of getting the newspaper to 30,000 homes in Kamloops is expensive.
But I grew up with ink on my hands.
Newspapers are in my marrow.
As a 14-year-old, I couldn't sleep on the night of Aug. 1, 1983, as I was anticipating with glee the arrival the next morning of the very first tabloid Province newspaper.
I would rush home twice a week to grab my local Abbotsford News, just to devour the headlines and stories and smell the newspaper ink, which to this day still offers my nose a waft reminiscent of potato chips.
I could recite, word for word, Jim Taylor's hilarious prose from his sports columns in the Vancouver Province and would pray to the almighty to spare me one-tenth of the talent that flowed from Denny Boyd's brain.
I was fortunate enough to land a job with that Abbotsford paper upon my graduation from journalism school in Edmonton.
And I was there when the paper jumped to three times a week from its twice-weekly mandate.
So, when your very passion is contracted, regardless of the reasons given, it is not, in my opinion, a positive.
It may be necessary, and it's a damn sight preferable to shutting down the entire operation, but it's still disappointing on so many levels.
This is simply common sense.
When the Rocky Mountain News closed, it was horrible news. When Heart could not find a buyer for the Seattle Post-Intelligencer and killed the print edition, leaving an online news presence with very few journalists, it was horrible news.
As it has been when the two Detroit daily papers decided to cut back home delivery to three times a week, and when the National Post announced a summer stint without its Monday edition, and when the venerable Victoria Times-Colonist decided to axe its Monday product for good.
Not healthy signs, for certain.
Cutting back on publishing dates while newspaper owners and managers the world over try to find a way to make an online newspaper profitable and hope the recession fades away and brings about more advertising revenue?
Well, maybe a step back here and there is necessary if the spawn of Gutenberg's invention is to resume galloping among those who crave a good lede, a great photo, pertinent information from city council, a recap of a sports team's triumph and a column that will stir all sorts of emotions within.
As usual, our staff will focus on turning out the best papers we can twice a week, along with continued constant stories, photos and video posted to our website at kamloopsthisweek.com.
We live in interesting times.
Our community newspaper in Kamloops, one that was born in 1988 as a weekly and grew to a thrice-weekly publication in 1991, is taking a step back.
As of June 14, 2009, Kamloops This Week will become a twice-weekly publication as the Sunday edition is jettisoned.
This is not a surprise, as I have been awaiting this decision for months.
No, I did not have inside information. Heck, I was on vacation when I got the word.
But, when a number of other papers have done likewise and, so far, avoided massive revenue loss, it was, in my opinion, only a matter of time until the powers-that-be decided to add Kamloops This Week to the roster of papers that are now twice-weekly entities.
These include the largest community paper in the chain, the Surrey Leader, along with the Peace Arch (White Rock) News, Chilliwack Progress, Tri-City (Coquitlam) News and Penticton Western News.
It has been stated in our paper this decision will better position KTW as the newspaper industry continues its path through a very tumultuous time.
Maybe so, but the decision saddens me nonetheless.
To be clear, there are wiser minds than mine who make the big decisions in Black Press, and they obviously see this move as being necessary.
The cost of newsprint has essentially doubled in the past year, while the remaining costs of getting the newspaper to 30,000 homes in Kamloops is expensive.
But I grew up with ink on my hands.
Newspapers are in my marrow.
As a 14-year-old, I couldn't sleep on the night of Aug. 1, 1983, as I was anticipating with glee the arrival the next morning of the very first tabloid Province newspaper.
I would rush home twice a week to grab my local Abbotsford News, just to devour the headlines and stories and smell the newspaper ink, which to this day still offers my nose a waft reminiscent of potato chips.
I could recite, word for word, Jim Taylor's hilarious prose from his sports columns in the Vancouver Province and would pray to the almighty to spare me one-tenth of the talent that flowed from Denny Boyd's brain.
I was fortunate enough to land a job with that Abbotsford paper upon my graduation from journalism school in Edmonton.
And I was there when the paper jumped to three times a week from its twice-weekly mandate.
So, when your very passion is contracted, regardless of the reasons given, it is not, in my opinion, a positive.
It may be necessary, and it's a damn sight preferable to shutting down the entire operation, but it's still disappointing on so many levels.
This is simply common sense.
When the Rocky Mountain News closed, it was horrible news. When Heart could not find a buyer for the Seattle Post-Intelligencer and killed the print edition, leaving an online news presence with very few journalists, it was horrible news.
As it has been when the two Detroit daily papers decided to cut back home delivery to three times a week, and when the National Post announced a summer stint without its Monday edition, and when the venerable Victoria Times-Colonist decided to axe its Monday product for good.
Not healthy signs, for certain.
Cutting back on publishing dates while newspaper owners and managers the world over try to find a way to make an online newspaper profitable and hope the recession fades away and brings about more advertising revenue?
Well, maybe a step back here and there is necessary if the spawn of Gutenberg's invention is to resume galloping among those who crave a good lede, a great photo, pertinent information from city council, a recap of a sports team's triumph and a column that will stir all sorts of emotions within.
As usual, our staff will focus on turning out the best papers we can twice a week, along with continued constant stories, photos and video posted to our website at kamloopsthisweek.com.
We live in interesting times.
Thursday, May 14, 2009
A puzzling election-night Brownout
Was he being petulant or proud — or was he pouting?
Whatever the reason, Kamloops-North Thompson NDP candidate Doug Brown was acting mighty odd on election night for someone who wanted to represent the people.
The man who would be MLA, the man who carried the flag of the party long known as that which champions the ordinary voter, essentially shut out the public throughout the day and night, refusing to speak to reporters and only granting his supporters a concession speech as the clock inched toward 11 at night.
Perhaps Brown was simply heeding the advice of Salomé Cerqueira and the rest of the campaign staff from Ontario as he watched Liberal Terry Lake ride to victory.
This would be the political gang that couldn’t shoot straight, as evidenced by its inability to discern between a mill that had burned down and one that had been closed due to economic conditions.
Whatever the reason for Brown’s reluctance to interact with those he wished to represent, it was a poor decision.
And it was an attitude highlighted even more by the gracious demeanour offered by Tom Friedman, the Kamloops-South Thompson NDP candidate who lost to Liberal Kevin Krueger.
While Brown became the reclusive political spider, Friedman offered a wide web of access, inviting KTW into his living room as Krueger’s lead increased and making sure to be at Krueger’s campaign headquarters at a decent hour to offer congratulations and his help.
The tale of two candidates was instructive — the margin of victory doesn’t account for the margin of error in simple human behaviour.
Whatever the reason, Kamloops-North Thompson NDP candidate Doug Brown was acting mighty odd on election night for someone who wanted to represent the people.
The man who would be MLA, the man who carried the flag of the party long known as that which champions the ordinary voter, essentially shut out the public throughout the day and night, refusing to speak to reporters and only granting his supporters a concession speech as the clock inched toward 11 at night.
Perhaps Brown was simply heeding the advice of Salomé Cerqueira and the rest of the campaign staff from Ontario as he watched Liberal Terry Lake ride to victory.
This would be the political gang that couldn’t shoot straight, as evidenced by its inability to discern between a mill that had burned down and one that had been closed due to economic conditions.
Whatever the reason for Brown’s reluctance to interact with those he wished to represent, it was a poor decision.
And it was an attitude highlighted even more by the gracious demeanour offered by Tom Friedman, the Kamloops-South Thompson NDP candidate who lost to Liberal Kevin Krueger.
While Brown became the reclusive political spider, Friedman offered a wide web of access, inviting KTW into his living room as Krueger’s lead increased and making sure to be at Krueger’s campaign headquarters at a decent hour to offer congratulations and his help.
The tale of two candidates was instructive — the margin of victory doesn’t account for the margin of error in simple human behaviour.
Dealing with deadlines and an election
As usual, the date of an election and our deadline conspired to make for a difficult day.
We are a thrice-weekly newspaper, publishing Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays.
The deadlines for those editions are horrible, but out of our control.
Deadline for Wednesday is Tuesday at 11 a.m.; deadline for Friday is Thursday at 11 a.m.; deadline for Sunday is end of day Friday.
This is because our paper is printed in Vernon - an hour and a bit away - then trucked back to Kamloops to be delivered to 30,000 homes.
And so the dilemma we face each time there is an election.
Of course, we have a fantastic website (kamloopsthisweek.com) to which we post breaking news, photos and video all day and all night.
But I am focusing our our newspaper here, the print version.
This year's provincial election fell on a Tuesday, which meant we could not have results in Wednesday's paper, considering we went to press while the polls were still open for ninr more hours.
What to do. What to do.
We hit the same challenge in last fall's federal election and we confront the same problem every three years, when municipal elections are held on a Saturday in November.
This is a longwinded way to explain why our day-after-election paper featured Kevin Krueger on the cover, casting his ballot.
Since we cannot have results of the election in our paper (though we did manage to have updated results on our webiste, along with quotes from candidates, in real time on election night), we decided again to at least include an election-themed component for the cover.
I chose Krueger because, quite frankly, I felt he was the surest bet to win a seat.
This time, we were correct; Krueger romped to victory in Kamloops-South Thompson and it was good to see we put a victor on the cover.
We weren't so lucky back in the fall, when I decided to get a shot of NDP candidate Michael Crawford casting a ballot and toss it on the front page of the day-after-election paper.
Again, I felt he was going to win.
Of course, he didn't. Conservative Cathy McLeod triumphed.
So, we are 1-1 in post-election cover shots taken before the polls close.
Yes, it is this tough planning when you are a thrice-weekly competing with a daily newspaper, local TV News and five radio stations.
We are a thrice-weekly newspaper, publishing Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays.
The deadlines for those editions are horrible, but out of our control.
Deadline for Wednesday is Tuesday at 11 a.m.; deadline for Friday is Thursday at 11 a.m.; deadline for Sunday is end of day Friday.
This is because our paper is printed in Vernon - an hour and a bit away - then trucked back to Kamloops to be delivered to 30,000 homes.
And so the dilemma we face each time there is an election.
Of course, we have a fantastic website (kamloopsthisweek.com) to which we post breaking news, photos and video all day and all night.
But I am focusing our our newspaper here, the print version.
This year's provincial election fell on a Tuesday, which meant we could not have results in Wednesday's paper, considering we went to press while the polls were still open for ninr more hours.
What to do. What to do.
We hit the same challenge in last fall's federal election and we confront the same problem every three years, when municipal elections are held on a Saturday in November.
This is a longwinded way to explain why our day-after-election paper featured Kevin Krueger on the cover, casting his ballot.
Since we cannot have results of the election in our paper (though we did manage to have updated results on our webiste, along with quotes from candidates, in real time on election night), we decided again to at least include an election-themed component for the cover.
I chose Krueger because, quite frankly, I felt he was the surest bet to win a seat.
This time, we were correct; Krueger romped to victory in Kamloops-South Thompson and it was good to see we put a victor on the cover.
We weren't so lucky back in the fall, when I decided to get a shot of NDP candidate Michael Crawford casting a ballot and toss it on the front page of the day-after-election paper.
Again, I felt he was going to win.
Of course, he didn't. Conservative Cathy McLeod triumphed.
So, we are 1-1 in post-election cover shots taken before the polls close.
Yes, it is this tough planning when you are a thrice-weekly competing with a daily newspaper, local TV News and five radio stations.
Monday, April 27, 2009
The aftermath of an accident
The horrific April 24 accident on Highway 1 in east Kamloops that claimed the life of 39-year-old cyclist Michael Dunn offers a textbook example of how covering a public tragedy can elicit varying responses from readers and viewers of our newspaper and website.
Dunn, an experienced cyclist and avid outdoorsman, was doing everything right that day, riding on the shoulder with the traffic. The driver of a dump truck approaching Dunn was also doing everything right, even pulling out a bit as he was about to pass by Dunn.
Unfortunately and tragically, it is believed a tire on Dunn's tire blew, forcing his bike into the path of the truck.
In our newsroom, I heard the call on the scanner — fragmented information about a cyclist and truck and the approximate location.
Our photographer and reporter were out of the newsroom on separate assignment, but both were contacted and made their way to the accident scene.
Our photographer, Dave Eagles, arrived first and did what he knows best — he started taking photos and shooting video for our website.
Our reporter, Tim Petruk, was there to gather information and quotes.
When looking at Eagles' photos later in the day, we examined dozens and decided on three that we felt told the story with the least amount of graphic shock. Many photos were simply too raw and disturbing to publish in the paper or on the website.
Granted, all the photos contained an element of the carnage that occurred, but the three photos we decided to publish were, I felt, as tasteful as possible while still conveying the seriousness of the accident.
None of the photos contained a clear image of Dunn's body, thought one did include police officers holding a sheet around the accident scene, and the sheet had a few spots of blood on it.
The video included a bit more graphic material, and even a few images that, on retrospect, were likely too much for friends and family of Dunn.
However, while compiling all this on April 24, near deadline and with a lot of work to do, it did not dawn on me that the story, photos and video would cause as much anguish as they did among the friends and family of Dunn.
One reader took issue with a line in our story. The line referred to "a bloody mess." I considered the reader's argument and read the story without the line included. It did not alter the story at all and I decided to remove it from the website story. The remainder of the piece was left intact.
Dunn's brother e-mailed and actually thanked us for posting the video as it gave family members an opportunity to grasp visually what had happened to Michael. He was, however, extremely upset with a portion of the video that showed a group of people — I believe they were victims services volunteers, though I am not certain.
That portion of the video, comprising a few seconds, showed three or four people drinking coffee and talking, with one or two smiling or laughing.
Obviously, they were not laughing in connection with the tragedy nearby. I have been at more than enough similar scenes to know stress can take varying effects on people. Sometimes you will find yourself shaking at what you have seen. And you might shake your head and smile as you discuss it with another person, though you have no idea you are doing so.
I have also seen officials chatting as they wait to be called over to help. They are at a terrible accident scene. They are waiting. They have each other to speak with an nobody else. At times like this, small talk can ensue, if only to take the mind off the horrible scene in which you find yourself.
Nevertheless, including that short portion in the video was poor editing on our part, and Michael's brother has a valid point.
It was for that reason I decided to take the video off our website.
The video as a whole, as Michael's father said, was not the problem; it was that particular portion.
Perhaps if we find time this week to edit the video, we can post it again; however, even images of Michael's bike under the dump truck and emergency officials investigating the crash proved traumatizing to some of Michael's friends, who e-mailed me their thoughts.
It is very difficult when approaching such a story. The public has the right to know what happened, and to see what happened. But how far does that right extend? Is it enough to grab a photo of a police officer, with no image whatsoever of the accident? Should I base part of my decision to alter images and words on the website on feelings expressed by family and friends of the victim?
This is not the first time we have been confronted with such a situation, nor will it be the last.
There have been times in the past when I have acted in a similar manner; there have been times when I did not change anything. It really is a case-specific decision to be made.
As I was pondering the half-dozen or so calls and e-mails I had received on the matter, my phone rang today (April 27) at about 2 p.m. It was a truck driver who used to be an accident-scene investigator. He wanted to tell me he thought our paper's coverage was as good as it could be under the circumstances. He felt the photos told the take without being gratuitous and he felt the story (in particular the "bloody mess" line) described the accident without being too graphic.
I suppose it all depends on how close one is to the story.
Dunn, an experienced cyclist and avid outdoorsman, was doing everything right that day, riding on the shoulder with the traffic. The driver of a dump truck approaching Dunn was also doing everything right, even pulling out a bit as he was about to pass by Dunn.
Unfortunately and tragically, it is believed a tire on Dunn's tire blew, forcing his bike into the path of the truck.
In our newsroom, I heard the call on the scanner — fragmented information about a cyclist and truck and the approximate location.
Our photographer and reporter were out of the newsroom on separate assignment, but both were contacted and made their way to the accident scene.
Our photographer, Dave Eagles, arrived first and did what he knows best — he started taking photos and shooting video for our website.
Our reporter, Tim Petruk, was there to gather information and quotes.
When looking at Eagles' photos later in the day, we examined dozens and decided on three that we felt told the story with the least amount of graphic shock. Many photos were simply too raw and disturbing to publish in the paper or on the website.
Granted, all the photos contained an element of the carnage that occurred, but the three photos we decided to publish were, I felt, as tasteful as possible while still conveying the seriousness of the accident.
None of the photos contained a clear image of Dunn's body, thought one did include police officers holding a sheet around the accident scene, and the sheet had a few spots of blood on it.
The video included a bit more graphic material, and even a few images that, on retrospect, were likely too much for friends and family of Dunn.
However, while compiling all this on April 24, near deadline and with a lot of work to do, it did not dawn on me that the story, photos and video would cause as much anguish as they did among the friends and family of Dunn.
One reader took issue with a line in our story. The line referred to "a bloody mess." I considered the reader's argument and read the story without the line included. It did not alter the story at all and I decided to remove it from the website story. The remainder of the piece was left intact.
Dunn's brother e-mailed and actually thanked us for posting the video as it gave family members an opportunity to grasp visually what had happened to Michael. He was, however, extremely upset with a portion of the video that showed a group of people — I believe they were victims services volunteers, though I am not certain.
That portion of the video, comprising a few seconds, showed three or four people drinking coffee and talking, with one or two smiling or laughing.
Obviously, they were not laughing in connection with the tragedy nearby. I have been at more than enough similar scenes to know stress can take varying effects on people. Sometimes you will find yourself shaking at what you have seen. And you might shake your head and smile as you discuss it with another person, though you have no idea you are doing so.
I have also seen officials chatting as they wait to be called over to help. They are at a terrible accident scene. They are waiting. They have each other to speak with an nobody else. At times like this, small talk can ensue, if only to take the mind off the horrible scene in which you find yourself.
Nevertheless, including that short portion in the video was poor editing on our part, and Michael's brother has a valid point.
It was for that reason I decided to take the video off our website.
The video as a whole, as Michael's father said, was not the problem; it was that particular portion.
Perhaps if we find time this week to edit the video, we can post it again; however, even images of Michael's bike under the dump truck and emergency officials investigating the crash proved traumatizing to some of Michael's friends, who e-mailed me their thoughts.
It is very difficult when approaching such a story. The public has the right to know what happened, and to see what happened. But how far does that right extend? Is it enough to grab a photo of a police officer, with no image whatsoever of the accident? Should I base part of my decision to alter images and words on the website on feelings expressed by family and friends of the victim?
This is not the first time we have been confronted with such a situation, nor will it be the last.
There have been times in the past when I have acted in a similar manner; there have been times when I did not change anything. It really is a case-specific decision to be made.
As I was pondering the half-dozen or so calls and e-mails I had received on the matter, my phone rang today (April 27) at about 2 p.m. It was a truck driver who used to be an accident-scene investigator. He wanted to tell me he thought our paper's coverage was as good as it could be under the circumstances. He felt the photos told the take without being gratuitous and he felt the story (in particular the "bloody mess" line) described the accident without being too graphic.
I suppose it all depends on how close one is to the story.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
