Events last week centered on one
16-year-old girl underscored the
dilemmas that face not only par
ents and police authorities, but
also the media when dealing with
reports of missing children.
Precisely at a time when every
one is alert to the real dangers to
children and teens, the 16-year-
old from Lake Oswego faked her
own abduction.
That was on Sunday evening.
By late Monday, she had tele
phoned her parents from Seattle,
but only after they, friends, police
and hundreds of searchers and
other caring strangers had taken
the matter seriously.
On Tuesday, police explained
that planted evidence near the
girls car at Tryon Creek State Park
had persuaded them to conduct a
search.
With two younger teen-age girls
missing in nearby Oregon City,
and other stories of missing or
murdered children as a backdrop,
no one close to the Tryon Creek
crime scene could afford to dis
miss the disappearance.
The news media followed the
lead of legitimately worried au
thorities.
For most of the week, television
made the story and its incremen
tal updates top-of-the-hour news.
At The Oregonian, the approach
varied. Nick Bertram, who over
sees the Street Final edition, a
small, street-sales, noontime edi
tion, placed the news of the miss
ing girl on Page One Monday. The
Street Final edition of about 6,000
copies emphasizes the latest hard-
news events.
Editors considering coverage
for Tuesday morning had more
time to plan for contingencies.
We know that often these kids
show up after being reported
missing, said Kay Balmer, senior
editor for suburban coverage.
Editors targeted the story for the
bottom of Page One. However,
they were ready to shift course de
pending on developments Mon
day evening.
If the teen remained missing,
the story would stay on Page One
– a dicey call, said Therese Bot
tomly, managing editor for news,
given that the girl had been miss
ing such a short time and could
show up at any moment.
As it happened, the girl tele
phoned home late Monday. Re
porter Rick Bella, assigned to
monitor the case, updated the
story for the metro-area edition.
Editors moved the story off Page
One to lesser prominence on the
Metro cover.
Since then, most follow-up arti
cles have remained in Metro.
On Friday, a Living section arti
cle focused on the challenges par
ents face when children are in
their mid-teens. Steve Duin has
urged readers in columns on
Thursday and today to think be
yond the girls actions and their
own knee-jerk response to her. A
prominently played article today
examines the sense of urgency
that moved police to launch an
immediate search for the girl.
Readers, most irate at the teen-
ager who caused such an uproar,
have been active. More than 60
have written letters to the editor
with dozens more responding to
reporters.
Missing teens do not normally
get such coverage, or at least not
so quickly.
Worried parents often tele
phone seeking a story about their
missing child. Editors explain that
the newspaper has to hold off un
til police treat the situation as
other than a runaway or custodial
interference.
Parents dont want to hear that,
but no news outlet could cover
every report of a youngsters dis
appearance.
The elements in last weeks case
rightly drew everyones attention,
but then called for restraint.
When she turned up safe, edi
tors at The Oregonian turned
down the glare. They followed the
immediate story, but they also
moved from the ill-conceived ac
tions of one girl to issues with
broader application.
The restraint paid off. Readers
got the news, and the news was
put in useful perspective.
