I know what everyone is wondering after watching last night's second edition of “Live From the Newsroom.”
Where was Nadin?
Good question.
We had been promoting the segment heavily all week. We were expecting to be joined by Nadin Khoury, the 13-year-old bullying victim who rocketed into the national headlines after police released the video of him being attacked by his alleged mentors, who had recorded their acts on a cell phone.
I was expecting to have a roundtable discussion on bullying with Nadin, his mother, Rebecca Wright, and township police Superintendent Michael Chitwood. Only the chief showed.
That’s because around 1 p.m. yesterday I got a call from a very nice woman named Sarah Dragotta. She is the attorney who is now representing the family.
She indicated that Nadin, who has become something of the national poster child for the anti-bullying effort after he appeared on “The Today Show”
and “The View,” was not making any more media appearances.
He was supposed to be doing an encore appearance on “The View,” which is part of a move to push the NFL to get on board the anti-bullying effort.
During his first appearance, several Eagles showed up on the set to praise Nadin for coming forward and to tell him they would support him.
Wide receiver DeSean Jackson literally gave Nadin the shirt off his back.
Ms. Dragotta assured me Nadin would not be going back on “The View.”
He obviously wasn’t coming on “Live From the Newsroom” either. Which left me with a bit of a problem. We had been promoting the session for the past couple of days. Our sister newspapers in the Philly area all planned to pick up the live stream on their websites and were promoting it as well.
I tried to make the argument with Dragotta that her suddenly reticent client had already agreed to appear on the show. No dice.
I can admit that there’s a part of me that wasn’t all that upset. For a long time I have been a bit dismayed at people who find themselves in the headlines, such as Nadin did, who suddenly go on these kinds of media tours. Now, thanks to the Internet, I find myself doing the same thing.
It’s easy to forget this is a 13-year-old kid. Our first story on this incident did not even identify him. In general our policy is not to identify juveniles, or victims of crime, or in this case, both.
That obviously went out the window when I flipped on the TV and saw Nadin talking about his ordeal on the evening news.
I also have noticed a distinct trend in the days since Nadin’s story first made headlines. It is something I have seen before. We build people up, then delight in tearing them down. A lot of people are now starting to wonder just what Nadin’s story is, and about his background.
For instance, why, many people e-mailed me, was he at the Opportunity Center in Upper Darby High School?
The seven juveniles charged in the incident are due back in court this morning. We haven’t heard much of their side of this story as yet either.
Last night we had a good discussion about bullying and about the Nadin Khoury case with Chitwood. As anyone who lives in this county knows, he’s not exactly camera shy.
But, after two appearances on national TV, apparently Nadin Khoury is.
That might not be a bad thing.
Where was Nadin?
Good question.
We had been promoting the segment heavily all week. We were expecting to be joined by Nadin Khoury, the 13-year-old bullying victim who rocketed into the national headlines after police released the video of him being attacked by his alleged mentors, who had recorded their acts on a cell phone.
I was expecting to have a roundtable discussion on bullying with Nadin, his mother, Rebecca Wright, and township police Superintendent Michael Chitwood. Only the chief showed.
That’s because around 1 p.m. yesterday I got a call from a very nice woman named Sarah Dragotta. She is the attorney who is now representing the family.
She indicated that Nadin, who has become something of the national poster child for the anti-bullying effort after he appeared on “The Today Show”
and “The View,” was not making any more media appearances.
He was supposed to be doing an encore appearance on “The View,” which is part of a move to push the NFL to get on board the anti-bullying effort.
During his first appearance, several Eagles showed up on the set to praise Nadin for coming forward and to tell him they would support him.
Wide receiver DeSean Jackson literally gave Nadin the shirt off his back.
Ms. Dragotta assured me Nadin would not be going back on “The View.”
He obviously wasn’t coming on “Live From the Newsroom” either. Which left me with a bit of a problem. We had been promoting the session for the past couple of days. Our sister newspapers in the Philly area all planned to pick up the live stream on their websites and were promoting it as well.
I tried to make the argument with Dragotta that her suddenly reticent client had already agreed to appear on the show. No dice.
I can admit that there’s a part of me that wasn’t all that upset. For a long time I have been a bit dismayed at people who find themselves in the headlines, such as Nadin did, who suddenly go on these kinds of media tours. Now, thanks to the Internet, I find myself doing the same thing.
It’s easy to forget this is a 13-year-old kid. Our first story on this incident did not even identify him. In general our policy is not to identify juveniles, or victims of crime, or in this case, both.
That obviously went out the window when I flipped on the TV and saw Nadin talking about his ordeal on the evening news.
I also have noticed a distinct trend in the days since Nadin’s story first made headlines. It is something I have seen before. We build people up, then delight in tearing them down. A lot of people are now starting to wonder just what Nadin’s story is, and about his background.
For instance, why, many people e-mailed me, was he at the Opportunity Center in Upper Darby High School?
The seven juveniles charged in the incident are due back in court this morning. We haven’t heard much of their side of this story as yet either.
Last night we had a good discussion about bullying and about the Nadin Khoury case with Chitwood. As anyone who lives in this county knows, he’s not exactly camera shy.
But, after two appearances on national TV, apparently Nadin Khoury is.
That might not be a bad thing.
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