Disapproving readers scolded The Spokesman-Review last September for publishing a map of U.S. military installations in the Pacific Northwest.
Even though the information was general knowledge and was available through sources as common as telephone books, there was a concern that the map would help terrorists pinpoint targets.
With that experience in mind, it is no surprise that a graphic published on June 12 — this time describing a “dirty bomb” — brought a similar response.
“Are we fighting terrorism or are we teaching it?” a letter writer wondered.
The illustration followed the arrest of Jose Padilla, who was suspected of planning to set off a radioactive dispersal device, or dirty bomb, somewhere in the United States. The drawing showed types of radioactive material that could be attached to dynamite. It also depicted the types and patterns of damage such a device might cause when exploded.
Said graphics editor Vince Grippi: “When the news broke, the first question I — and others in the newsroom — had was, `What is a dirty bomb?’ A graphic seemed to be the best way to answer such a question.”
To Grippi, a visual presentation would dramatize what a low-tech contraption a dirty bomb is, and it might lower the anxiety of readers who envisioned mushroom clouds.
“The graphic was not a how-to in any sense,” he said. “It was clear enough to educate, but it certainly wasn’t complex enough to build a weapon.”
Managing Editor Scott Sines, who received about five calls from critical readers, said the line between explanation and how-to is sometimes narrow.
“So the challenge becomes how to explain what a dirty bomb is without explaining how to make one. I thought the graphic was vague enough to accomplish that goal,” Sines said.
The graphic was prepared and distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Information Services, based on information supplied by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and the Journal of the Federation of American Scientists.
Michael Levi, director of the federation’s Strategic Security Project, provided much of the same information when interviewed on National Public Radio, one of many major news organizations that described dirty bombs.
In fact, Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz and Attorney General John Ashcroft went into similar levels of detail in press conferences.
I believe The Spokesman-Review stayed inside the bounds of responsible journalism in its use of the graphic about dirty bombs. But another question remains.
Knowing some readers would be alarmed by the presentation of such information in their daily newspaper, why didn’t we act on the anticipation and explain ourselves? Wouldn’t it have been just as valuable to allay those fears as it was to clear up the difference between dirty bombs and nuclear holocaust?
In my judgment, it would. And there’s precedent for it.
When The Spokesman-Review departs from its own guidelines and publishes the name of a juvenile defendant or a rape victim, we spend a few lines of type telling why. Knowing that some readers will misinterpret graphics (like those that ran on Sept. 25 or June 12) as a handbook for terrorists, we’d be smart to offer a brief explanation.
Carolee Crain of Pullman was inspired by a story she read recently in the IN Life section. It was about an author named William Reynolds and the information he had compiled in a book about the history of hymns, “Songs of Glory: Stories of 300 Great Hymns and Gospel Songs.”
The 750-word article, by syndicated writer Jim Jones, wasn’t precisely a book review, but it drew heavily on information contained in the book.
It grabbed Crain’s attention. She contacted the Christian Book Center in nearby Moscow, only to find “Songs of Glory” is unavailable. It’s out of print.
Crain wasn’t the first customer to ask, someone at the store told her. Other book outlets in Spokane told me much the same story, and on line booksellers list the volume as a special order. That means they don’t have a copy in stock but they’ll notify you if they ever find one. (One site apparently had a copy up for auction.)It frustrated Crain to have her expectations raised only to be disappointed. Newspapers strive to make connections with readers, but not that kind. A brief notation that the book is out of print would have helped.
