Charges against Tijuana police officers stemming from the rape of a tourist from the United States should have been played prominently in The San Diego Union-Tribune instead of inside the local section, some readers complained Thursday.
A story about the alleged rape of the woman and extortion of her family as they were walking back to San Diego from Tijuana appeared on Page 4 of the local section on Thursday but only in some editions. The only way readers in the East and North County would have been aware of the story Thursday would have been if they read it on SignOnSanDiego, the Union-Tribune Web site, or saw a report on television.
Patricia Turner, who read about the incident on SignOnSanDiego Thursday, complained that more prominence was given on the Web site to a story about people who were deported to Mexico after they were stopped by authorities while shopping with family members at Plaza Bonita in National City.
But, Chris Jennewein, Union-Tribune director of Internet operations, pointed out that Turner must have gone online after 6 a.m. Thursday. “The rape story was actually the lead story on the home page from yesterday (Wednesday) afternoon until about 6 a.m.,” Jennewein said. After that, it was replaced by the story about the deported family members, which was later superseded by other, breaking stories. The rape story remained on the Web site, but was not prominently displayed.
But most who complained took issue with the lack of prominence given the rape story from The Associated Press in the print edition of the Union-Tribune. Some complained that the story about the deported family members was on the cover, and the story about the rape was not.
One reader suggested that editors take a look at stories that appeared on the front page of the local section “and decide what’s more important.”
“What would have happened had it been our police who did that?” asked reader Joe Strusienski who said the story about corruption of public officials in Mexico and the abuse of power should have been given more prominence.
“This should have been on the front page, not on B-4,” said Joseph Nainieri.
Ky Washington, owner of a limousine service which stopped sending drivers to Mexico because of fears of corrupt officials, echoed his sentiments. It shouldn’t be dismissed because it took place in another country, Washington said.
What first caught my eye was that the story was from The Associated Press, not from Union-Tribune staff members assigned to cover Mexico. And because of how the newsroom works, I knew that the story probably was filed by The Associated Press late Wednesday, or a Union-Tribune staff writer would have been assigned to do a more thorough story. Susan White, the assistant metro editor in charge of border coverage, said the Union-Tribune reporter who usually attends the once-a-month citizens meeting held by the Baja California Attorney General’s Office (where information for the story was obtained), was out of town on assignment. Other staff members fluent in Spanish were on deadline for other stories.
Even so, White asked a reporter to make calls to confirm the AP story and then began planning for follow-up coverage and a more thorough look at the situation. Thursday, three reporters assigned to the story scrambled to get interviews with officials in Mexico who were observing a national holiday. One reporter learned that an official was playing baseball and interviewed him when he came off the field. Their efforts culminated in the article that appeared Friday that took a look at the accusations.
In retrospect, White said, she probably should have pulled the reporter who was on deadline Wednesday for the story about the deported family members to look into the story about the rape. But, at the time, she did not think to do so because the story about the deportations also was competitive and was being reported by The Associated Press. That means the story would have been available to all newspapers that subscribe to the news service, including the Los Angeles Times and the North County Times.
While a reporter made calls Wednesday to confirm the AP rape story, that was the extent of the reporting done on it that day. White said that had the story about the rape and the story about the deported family been given at least equal prominence, she doesn’t think readers would have objected.
Readers who were upset that the story was inside the local section of Thursday’s editions of the Union-Tribune were justified in their criticism. As those who complained pointed out, the story is one of official corruption and abuse of power. It is a story that should have been available to anyone who crosses the border either as a tourist or on a regular basis.
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Gina Lubrano’s column commenting on the media appears Mondays. It is the policy of The San Diego Union-Tribune to correct all errors. To discuss accuracy or fairness in the news, please write to Gina Lubrano, readers representative, Box 120191, San Diego, CA 92112-0191, or telephone (619) 293-1525. Send e-mail to: readers.rep@uniontrib.com.
