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Trying to keep arrests out of the paper
By LOIS CLERMONT
News Editor
People often call here to ask that we keep the name of someone who was arrested out of the paper. Sometimes it’s the person who was charged who calls; sometimes it’s the father, mother, wife or husband.
We have had calls from big advertisers threatening to pull their ads and from people we know appealing to our friendship, even some of our relatives.
We tell them all the same thing: If it’s a felony arrest or a personal injury accident involving any level of charge, the arrest will be going in the paper.
It’s not that we don’t have empathy for how publication of the arrest affects people’s lives. Do you know how hard it is to tell a tearful friend, “Sorry, but I can’t keep your name out of the paper”?
We all have families, too, and some of them have had problems with the law. We know how embarrassing it for people to see their name in the Police Log or a crime article.
But, to keep local people informed about what is happening in their communities, we have made a commitment to report felony arrests and accidents where someone was hurt.
And it would be unethical for us to withhold those reports just because we know the person or are worried about losing advertising.
Is that the kind of newspaper you would want?
When our former editor’s son crashed his car and was arrested for DWI years ago, it was in the paper. When a big advertiser’s son was arrested for DWI, we ran that too, even though we lost advertising for months.
We have to have integrity so that you’ll trust our reporting.
If you know someone who was arrested and don’t see it in the paper, there are two reasons: It was a misdemeanor or violation, not a felony; or it wasn’t given to us on one of the three times a day that we call every police agency in our area to ask for arrests and accidents.
We feel for the people who are charged, but we feel more strongly that we have to be fair and treat every arrest the same way.
Comments
Good Job Lois. As the saying goes, You purchase newspaper advertising to market your business to potential customers. The purchase of advertising doesn't guarantee or prohibit news coverage.
Posted by: Sean McNamara | April 17, 2007 8:08 PM
Welcome to the blog, Sean! Nice to hear those comments from a veteran advertising manager like you.
Posted by: Lois Clermont | April 18, 2007 9:43 AM