Sonya Moussaed story
By Dan Shaw, danshaw@monroenews.com
A longtime reader today questioned, in a post on the Eyes and Ears forum on monroenews.com, whether The Evening News should have allowed such a poignant personal discussion on a public forum.
This is what she said: “I have to say I have been a long time reader of Monroe Evening News and I am very disappointed that things like this have been allowed to be posted on the message board. Didn’t the family and friends go through enough.”
She raises a good point. From the first story about the baby’s death in the newspaper, right through to the final trial story, as well as monitoring the forums, reporters and editors at The Evening News have struggled with this question.
Clearly, the public is interested in the case and has a right to know the details - one of our own, a member of our community, died. That’s not just a private family matter, it’s an issue of wide community interest. As John Donne noted nearly 400 years ago, …”Any man’s death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind, and therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee.”
At the same time, two families suffered immeasurably, first losing a baby to death, then a mother/daughter/sister to prison. It was a very personal tragedy; they have a right to mourn in private.
We’re acutely aware of the difficulties balancing the public’s right to know with the family’s right to privacy. One of the toughest issues is how much detail to include. Reporter Ray Kisonas, who wrote most of the stories, had to make decisions all along the way: about the baby’s injuries, about the accused’s personal life, about the interpersonal relationships among both families. We printed what we thought people needed to know to understand the story. We left many details out.
Then along came the forum discussion. We didn’t ask for it; it happened on its own. People close to both the victim and the accused, as well as others who didn’t know them, gave their opinions and responded to each other in a remarkably open and honest exchange.
Some of the posts appeared to be too personal. We considered deleting them. But where to start and stop? One came from a juror, which is perfectly legal and appropriate, if unusual.
Perhaps this is one of the new roles of the Internet in our lives - to be a place where we can air our feelings, get them off our chests, so to speak. Perhaps it’s healthy, even cathartic.
One thing that makes all of this challening for editors of newspapers and Web sites is that there appear to be two different standards for the newspaper and the Web site. We allowed information on this forum thread that we didn’t put in the newspaper.
Is that good. Many journalists think not. Others rejoice in the differences between our fiber and cyber products. What do you think?
Related links:
November 26th, 2006 at 7:30 pm
Obviously this is a painful happening for everyone. I think it breaks the heart of everyone in the community but most of all the family and friends closest to those involved. Because nobody but those who were there knows what really happened. Still we all look for answers because it is so devastating. I think the forum has helped to answer some questions and pose some that perhaps haven’t been asked. When something horrible happens, we all want to know….why? how? when? why this person? What could I have done? What can I do? Sadly we probably won’t find answers to all of these questions. But I hope that within the loss of that sweet little life perhaps it will make us all stop and think before reacting - be it to a child, someone accused, or someone that offends us.