After the Gold Rush

Human decency often gets in the way of a good story, but it's probably the only thing that tells reporters where the line is.

The primary example of this is reporting on deaths. Obviously, people care about those who die within their local area, especially when the deceased was young or faced something even more tragic than usual. So, I hope we can agree right off the bat that although those close to the departed understandably want privacy on the matter, the facts themselves are absolutely news and should be reported.

But where do we go from there? Let's assume, rather safely, that an especially tragic death in a small town will result in a news release from the local police department. It will be sparse with details, not much beyond a brief description of the death and time of dispatch. The officer in charge of talking to the media will be listed at the bottom, but he or she isn't going to have much to add, understandably so. If the department is organized and accustomed to this, it'll even be ready for a records request of the 911 tape.

Okay, that's a six-inch story, maybe eight or ten if the reporter can dig up some kind of background. Sure, it's not compelling and lends no insight into what it means to be affected by the death, but the story is there.

On Sunday, an OU student and his father died when their small plane crashed not far from the airport in West Virgina. It was depressing news to wake up to this morning and once again be reminded how short life is. How students should cover another student's death is a very difficult question, but one that always seems to have the same answer, call the family. I've done it a few times myself, with varying responses from vulgar threats to people actually being sympathetic toward me for having to write the story (which made me feel much worse).

Obviously the people closest to the deceased are grieving immensely, especially as the news cycle requires the information be published the next day, at the latest. Stuff like this can't wait. If our Web site view counts are any indication, most people are fascinated with this stuff and want as much details released as possible. That is, of course, unless they knew the person, at which case they will scold you for taking advantage of the situation. Again, it's understandable. Making that call to a close relative or friend of someone who recently died is a turning point for a journalist, it's a realization that this isn't a game of faceless participants.

Unfortunately, that call needs to be made and a real story needs to be told. At the very least to reflect the fact that these are people, not not names in a city police department news release. Sometimes your pride isn't all that you have to swallow, there's that bit of human decency, too.


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University Mourns Student's Death (OU Outlook, because it broke the story locally)