If you opened up your Sunday newspaper or went to delcotimes.com looking for our coverage of Saturday night’s fundraiser of the two girls from Norwood, you may have been surprised.
There wasn’t any.
That was not our original plan.
Obviously, this is a story that we have covered extensively. Even “Dr.
Phil” got involved on Friday, devoting a good part of his show to the issue of teen suicide. He had on his show the journalist who was on the train that struck the two teens – who we had interviewed – as well as a couple of moms from the Interboro community.
That same day we had a story recapping a service that was held at St.
Stephen’s Episcopal church in Norwood on Thursday night for adults who were still struggling with the tragedy.
We did not actually send a reporter or photographer in person to the event. We talked to Pastor Michael Knight afterward. We wanted to be sensitive to what is clearly a very emotional subject. We were not looking to ambush anyone, stick a camera in their face, and ask them “How do you feel?”
Likewise, I was interested in the fundraiser being held at The Deck on Saturday night. We had run an advance on Saturday indicating that part of the money raised at the event would go toward establishing a 24-hour online chat room for those in crisis.
It’s a good idea and what I consider a very good outcome for a story in which there have been all too few positives.
I decided to send a reporter to the fundraiser to see how it was attended and if anyone else wanted to comment on how the community is reacting.
When reporter Paul Luce arrived, he quickly learned that was not the case. He was asked to leave.
No problem. I had told him that we did not want to impose, and that we would go along with the families’ and organizers’ wishes.
They made it clear they did not want any additional coverage.
And that’s why there was no story in the Sunday paper.
I’m not really sure where this story goes from here. I’m not sure there really is anything else to say, although I am sure it will come up from time to time.
My most fervent desire is that we never have to do this kind of story again.
There wasn’t any.
That was not our original plan.
Obviously, this is a story that we have covered extensively. Even “Dr.
Phil” got involved on Friday, devoting a good part of his show to the issue of teen suicide. He had on his show the journalist who was on the train that struck the two teens – who we had interviewed – as well as a couple of moms from the Interboro community.
That same day we had a story recapping a service that was held at St.
Stephen’s Episcopal church in Norwood on Thursday night for adults who were still struggling with the tragedy.
We did not actually send a reporter or photographer in person to the event. We talked to Pastor Michael Knight afterward. We wanted to be sensitive to what is clearly a very emotional subject. We were not looking to ambush anyone, stick a camera in their face, and ask them “How do you feel?”
Likewise, I was interested in the fundraiser being held at The Deck on Saturday night. We had run an advance on Saturday indicating that part of the money raised at the event would go toward establishing a 24-hour online chat room for those in crisis.
It’s a good idea and what I consider a very good outcome for a story in which there have been all too few positives.
I decided to send a reporter to the fundraiser to see how it was attended and if anyone else wanted to comment on how the community is reacting.
When reporter Paul Luce arrived, he quickly learned that was not the case. He was asked to leave.
No problem. I had told him that we did not want to impose, and that we would go along with the families’ and organizers’ wishes.
They made it clear they did not want any additional coverage.
And that’s why there was no story in the Sunday paper.
I’m not really sure where this story goes from here. I’m not sure there really is anything else to say, although I am sure it will come up from time to time.
My most fervent desire is that we never have to do this kind of story again.
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