It is such a sad, sad story to have to publish anytime someone from our readership area dies in a tragic accident. Whether it's a fatal car crash, house fire or farm accident, no one in the news business I've ever known enjoys reporting on or writing about the incident. But as a news source of public record, it's something we all have to do.
Particularly when a tragic death occurs on a holiday weekend, like this past weekend, it's even tougher. You know that families and friends often will associated the holiday with the untimely passing of a loved one.
We had two such incidents this Easter weekend. I won't repeat the details here, you can read the stories in today's newspaper and online editions of the Times.
In most instances, our newspaper probably treads a little more lightly than others on stories such as these. Some news outlets - quite often it tends to be television and radio stations, that rely on visuals and voices - will dive right into a story like these and seek to interview as many family members and friends and neighbors as they can find. I don't want to say their reporters are insensitive, because I don't think most are. But they can come across that way to those who knew the victim.
I was reminded of that Monday morning when we received a call asking us not to interview people who had worked with a victim of one of the weekend's accidents. No one from the Times had called, but apparently other news outlets had.
Being a small community newspaper, we usually try to minimize those personal intrusions. We always will find out as many facts as we can and share them with our readers. But often we'll skip the more personal stuff that might make for a more interesting story for readers, but often can add to the anguish family members are feeling.
Of course, sometimes family members and friends want to talk about their loved one who has passed away. They want people to know about the good in that person's life, or the heroism they may have displayed in the event that took their life. For some people, talking publicly can be cathartic. In those cases, obviously, we will talk with them and make sure we're appropriate in what we share with readers.
Some people, I'm sure, will say being cautious on stories such as these make us lesser journalists. Maybe. But I think it also makes us more human.
Particularly when a tragic death occurs on a holiday weekend, like this past weekend, it's even tougher. You know that families and friends often will associated the holiday with the untimely passing of a loved one.
We had two such incidents this Easter weekend. I won't repeat the details here, you can read the stories in today's newspaper and online editions of the Times.
In most instances, our newspaper probably treads a little more lightly than others on stories such as these. Some news outlets - quite often it tends to be television and radio stations, that rely on visuals and voices - will dive right into a story like these and seek to interview as many family members and friends and neighbors as they can find. I don't want to say their reporters are insensitive, because I don't think most are. But they can come across that way to those who knew the victim.
I was reminded of that Monday morning when we received a call asking us not to interview people who had worked with a victim of one of the weekend's accidents. No one from the Times had called, but apparently other news outlets had.
Being a small community newspaper, we usually try to minimize those personal intrusions. We always will find out as many facts as we can and share them with our readers. But often we'll skip the more personal stuff that might make for a more interesting story for readers, but often can add to the anguish family members are feeling.
Of course, sometimes family members and friends want to talk about their loved one who has passed away. They want people to know about the good in that person's life, or the heroism they may have displayed in the event that took their life. For some people, talking publicly can be cathartic. In those cases, obviously, we will talk with them and make sure we're appropriate in what we share with readers.
Some people, I'm sure, will say being cautious on stories such as these make us lesser journalists. Maybe. But I think it also makes us more human.
