Two weeks ago during a week of big front-page news on the elections and sports troubles at Michigan State University and the University of Michigan, it was a headline about Santa that had my phone ringing.
The headline read “Warren Santa is charged in killing.” It was in the upper left corner of the front page atop an article detailing why a man who’d dressed up as Santa since 1995 in Warren’s holiday parade was charged with killing his daughter in a dispute over Christmas decorations.
The headline and story were accurate.
What also angered many people, though, was the headline on the same story as it appeared on the Free Press Web site, which said “Santa’s a killer, cops say.”
Lots of the anger about both headlines was generated by talk radio, particularly the Scott & Casey show on WKRK-FM (97.1).
Callers to the Free Press said the use of the Santa headlines was disgusting, ridiculous, uncaring, awful and wrong, accusing the newspaper of sensationalizing the story and mocking Santa.
“I thought the headline was terrible,” said Shari Wilcox of Saline. “The story was that a father killed his daughter. The fact that he played Santa was a very small part.”
I also got calls and e-mails from parents who said they’d had to explain that headline to their young children.
Mark Kundrick of Ortonville said since the 2001 terrorist attacks, he and his wife have the paper on the breakfast table so the family can see the latest news and discuss it with their young children before school.
He said schools have encouraged parents to be up on the news to help children deal with their uncertainties and fears.
Joan Pennanen of Warren who said she’s been a baby-sitter for much of her life, was concerned about how it affected children because Christmas is so close.
“It was the first thing I saw the when I picked the paper up,” she said. “There are probably headlines that upset children, but this more than others because it was about Santa.”
When I talked with readers, I tried to explain that the Santa aspect is what made the story newsworthy, and the headlines were based on details in the story.
I also said we recognize children read the newspaper because we publish Yak’s Corner daily. There was discussion among editors about the print version of the story and headline the night it was published, out of concern that the newspaper not go overboard.
While most of those editors didn’t think the newspaper overplayed or sensationalized the story, they said the reactions will make them more carefully consider the sensibilities of our readers.
