Some days in this job, you just sort of sit here and shake your head.
Some stories will do that to you. Like the one that adorns today’s front page.
We actually first reported it yesterday, and in the process touched off something of a media firestorm.
It involves the case of a bizarre photo posted on the Internet depicting a child duct-taped to a chair, her little arms and hands bound, mouth gagged.
A woman is seen behind her. As it turns out, according to police, that woman is her mother. She now faces charges of endangering the welfare of a child.
In the original photo that we ran, the faces of both the tot and the woman were blurred out.
But I can tell you it still jolted me when I first saw it. And I pretty much knew what kind of effect it would have the second we posted it on our website and printed it in the paper.
Still, it left me with another one of those nights I seem to have all the time, tossing and turning most of the night, wondering about the use of that image. It is a jarring photo.
It’s something I do a lot of nights, often bolting up in bed in a cold sweat wondering about something that was going to appear in the paper that day.
It kind of goes with the job.
I’ve been doing this particular job now for 11 years. I ran the news desk for a decade before that, literally putting that front page together most nights.
Now, I’m the one who makes the decision about what goes on that front page, what is the lead story on our website. Sure, I confer with all the other editors, but the final decision is mine.
It makes for a lot of sleepless nights.
And some days you just shake your head.
Some stories will do that to you. Like the one that adorns today’s front page.
We actually first reported it yesterday, and in the process touched off something of a media firestorm.
It involves the case of a bizarre photo posted on the Internet depicting a child duct-taped to a chair, her little arms and hands bound, mouth gagged.
A woman is seen behind her. As it turns out, according to police, that woman is her mother. She now faces charges of endangering the welfare of a child.
In the original photo that we ran, the faces of both the tot and the woman were blurred out.
But I can tell you it still jolted me when I first saw it. And I pretty much knew what kind of effect it would have the second we posted it on our website and printed it in the paper.
Still, it left me with another one of those nights I seem to have all the time, tossing and turning most of the night, wondering about the use of that image. It is a jarring photo.
It’s something I do a lot of nights, often bolting up in bed in a cold sweat wondering about something that was going to appear in the paper that day.
It kind of goes with the job.
I’ve been doing this particular job now for 11 years. I ran the news desk for a decade before that, literally putting that front page together most nights.
Now, I’m the one who makes the decision about what goes on that front page, what is the lead story on our website. Sure, I confer with all the other editors, but the final decision is mine.
It makes for a lot of sleepless nights.
And some days you just shake your head.
Comments