One of the most frequent criticisms of newspapers arises out of the coverage of tragedy. We are accused of insensitive treatment of victims and survivors.
The argument has merit. Too often, under the pressures of deadlines and competition, journalists can tend to think first and foremost of how to make a story connect emotionally with readers; the well-being of victims and survivors can be far down on the list of concerns. The Star-Telegram works to reverse that situation. In planning and following through on coverage, we try to make sure that the welfare of victims and survivors is on the top of our minds.
The effort brought us a special honor Saturday night from a group of people known for their courage and strength of purpose: the National Organization of Parents of Murdered Children, Inc. The POMC, holding its national conference in Fort Worth, presented its National Service Award to the Star-Telegram for setting an example of sensitive coverage of victims and survivors. Brenda O’Quin [cq], a Fort Worth resident and a member of POMC’s national board, nominated the Star-Telegram for the award. In her nomination, she cited examples of how the Star-Telegram has pursued sensitive coverage, beginning with a “Victims and the Media” workshop that MDBRMDSUMDNMthe newspaper sponsored jointly with the POMC, the Tarrant County Juvenile Violence Task Force and the Crime Prevention Resource Center (formerly the Citizens Crime Commission of Tarrant County).
The workshop brought news staff together with survivors and representatives of organizations that are affected by coverage of tragedies. A number of practices were reshaped, and they laid the foundation for the Star-Telegram’s coverage of the murder of seven young people and the wounding of many others at Wedgwood Baptist Church.
Kathy Vetter, who then was managing editor for news and helped to guide coverage of the mass shooting, says the approaches that were developed have become accepted technique. They include asking families’ permission to attend funerals, publishing a photograph of the victim when running a story about a suspect or criminal, and alerting families to plans for coverage. “Wedgwood changed all of us,” said Vetter, now managing editor for projects. “Staff thinks about victims.”
That’s an automatic priority for police reporters Deanna Sands and Melody McDonald, who cover tragedy nearly every day. They follow a number of victim-sensitive practices that begin by first making sure that police have made the first contact with a victim’s family, Sands said. She also makes sure that the family knows who she is and why she is calling. Jim Witt, vice president and executive editor, says: “We have to walk a very fine line. Our readers expect us to tell them what’s going on, yet at the same time they don’t want people’s privacy invaded.
“We work very hard at the Star-Telegram to be very sensitive in our coverage of tragedies and personal grief,” he said. “For instance, we always check with the family before a public funeral to make sure it’s OK to take pictures, and if they don’t want us there, we’ll make other arrangements. He recalled a request made by the family of Adrianne Jones of Mansfield, who was the victim in a love-triangle murder committed several years ago by Naval Academy and Air Force Academy students. “Adrianne’s family asked us to run her photo every time we ran one of the killers’ photos, and we were glad to accommodate them,” Witt said.
“I know dozens of examples of our reporters trying their best to be sensitive to people who have suffered some tragedy and at the same time do their job of gathering information. And I’m sure there are times when we don’t do a very good job, and we certainly need to hear about it in those instances so we can learn from it.”
