When it comes to covering news, the role of reporters is to provide information, not to act as keepers of morals. Whether they approve or disapprove of actions taken by a news subject is immaterial. Their role is to report facts and let readers make up their own minds.
Commentary by editorial writers as well as San Diego Union-Tribune columnists who are paid to write their opinions is another matter. They can say what they think. And do. Columnists, including Don Bauder, Nick Canepa, Neil Morgan and Peter Rowe, may even disagree with editorials.
Sometimes, readers forget the mission of a newspaper is to inform readers. That is especially true when they dislike or disapprove of information being provided. Other times, some readers feel so strongly about an issue they think the newspaper should reflect their feelings.
Thursday, Superior Court Judge Robert Coates complained because articles about a fellow judge who is opposed in his bid for re-election inevitably report that the incumbent pleaded guilty last November to a misdemeanor charge of battering his wife.
Coates contends that repeated reporting of this information about Judge Geary Cortes reflects the “low IQ” of reporters who, he says, should be investigating more important judicial issues, including the definition of justice. The New York Times would never do this, Coates claimed.
He called the incident an “ancient canard” (the plea was entered about four months ago). Repeating it in stories about the race is working in favor of the challenger, Coates said. At least one article has noted that registrar of voters officials say it is rare for a sitting judge to be forced into a runoff.
Is it unfair for the Union-Tribune to include information about the plea in every story about Cortes’ candidacy?
Not a bit. It goes to the essence of what newspapers do. Not to do so would be unfair to readers who may have missed earlier articles. The role of the newspaper is to shed light, to give readers the tools to help them make informed decisions. The point here is that the plea is public record. Not only that, it is pertinent to the conduct of a judicial officer. If the newspaper did not provide the information in stories about the election, it would be doing readers a disservice. And could be accused of favoring the incumbent.
Another reader complained about the newspaper’s coverage of the death of Padres outfielder Mike Darr, saying the tone of a March 14 article was irritating. The reader, who did not wish to be named, complained because the story said that Darr’s blood alcohol level was below Arizona’s definition of “extreme intoxication.” The reader agreed with a published letter that said more attention was paid to Darr’s lack of a seat-belt than to his use of alcohol. The account should be read “by any young or weak-minded person” only “under the guidance of a responsible adult,” the reader wrote. The story, however, reported in the first paragraph that Darr was intoxicated.
“The issue, it seems to me, is the reporter’s responsibility to put aside his personal affection for those he is covering as a reporter,” the e-mail said. The writer was “clearly thinking more of what the ‘guys in the clubhouse’ whom he as a baseball beat writer has to cover every day, and whose goodwill no doubt makes his job easier would think than what the truth was, or what his responsibility to the reader was,” the reader wrote.
In re-reading the March 14 article and other stories about Darr’s accident and death, I could find no example of irresponsible reporting. In fact, the reporting was factual and took care not to jump to conclusions.
“Few topics are as emotionally charged as drunken driving, and the tragedy of people dying in alcohol-related accidents should never be minimized,” R.B. Brenner, senior editor for Business and Sports, said in a response to the reader.
“On the other hand, a person’s death, like a life, often is complex and difficult to sum up in absolute right-and-wrong terms. A reporter’s role is to report the facts, but it also involves providing context for readers.”
Brenner said the reporting did not minimize the alcohol element of Darr’s death. I agree. The March 14 headline highlighted the medical examiner’s finding: “Darr legally intoxicated, says examiner’s report.” The story also made it clear.
Brenner said it was the newspaper’s journalistic responsibility to report that investigators could not conclude that alcohol was the primary cause of the accident.
It was also appropriate for the newspaper to quote the honest emotions of Darr’s teammates and manager. Wrote Brenner, “The story ended with this quote from Kevin Towers, the Padres’ general manager: ‘If anything, it’s a reminder once again to buckle up and don’t drink and drive, but we don’t think any less of Mike Darr because of this.’ “
