We have a pretty clear policy when it comes to covering funerals. For the most part we don’t.
In most of these instances, we are dealing with two issues, people who have been thrust into the news through a tragic event, maybe a crash or a horrific crime, as well as the personal agony of burying a loved one.
In most of these instances, we are dealing with two issues, people who have been thrust into the news through a tragic event, maybe a crash or a horrific crime, as well as the personal agony of burying a loved one.
What usually happens is that we have given extensive coverage to the situation that got these people into the news in the first place, such as a tragic car crash.
In those instances, there really is no need to further intrude on the family’s grief, and we usually keep a distance, perhaps noting only that the funeral took place with a photo taken from a discreet distance.
But like just about everything in this business, there is an asterisk. Sometimes the news dictates that we cover a funeral.
Which brings us to the tragedy this week surrounding the family of Eagles head coach Andy Reid.
There are a couple of reasons why we decided to cover the funeral of Garrett Reid, the coach’s oldest son whose body was discovered Sunday morning in a dorm room at Lehigh University, where the team holds its summer training camp.
First, Andy Reid is a public figure. Everything he does in news. In this football-crazed town, big news. As head coach of the Eagles, jsut about every facet of his life is fair game for news coverage. He lives in the proverbial fish bowl. A few years back, when his two sons had their scrapes with the law, he received a lot of coverage for things that had nothing to do with how the Eagles were performing on the field. That goes with the territory when you are head coach of the Eagles.
Secondly, the funeral was occurring right here in Delaware County. More than 900 people packed the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints on Paxon Hollow Road in the Broomall section of Marple Township.
We had both a reporter and photographer at the church. No cameras were allowed inside and photographers were kept at a distance.
That did not stop our photographer, Julia Wilkinson, from getting a single image that told you everything you need to know about what happened yesterday.
It appears on Page 1 today, as well as our DelcoTimes.com website. It depicts Coach Reid hugging two young men, I believe they're his sons, obviously offering strength and consolation in one of the worst instances a family can endure.
When we first posted that image yesterday, I wondered if we would hear from readers who thought – as they often do in these instances – that we were performing the usual “vulture” role of the media, intruding on a profoundly personal moment of untold grief for the Reid family. In fact several people went on our Facebook page and posted comments accusing us of doing just that.
But I still made the decision to use that powerful image on Page 1 today, because that single photo tells me more about what happened yesterday than any words.
It is my hope that we did not heap further suffering on the Reid family in their moment of grief.
I don’t believe we did.
I did notice that a very similar image appeared on the front page of both the Philadelphia Inquirer and the Back Page of the Daily News.
Photographers don’t take any joy in these events. They are doing their jobs. And I was doing mine. That’s why that photo was on today’s front page.
It does not mean I don’t feel for Andy Reid. I do. I am a father as well as a newspaper editor.
There is nothing natural about a parent burying a child. It is about the worst thing that can happen to a mother or father.
In those instances, there really is no need to further intrude on the family’s grief, and we usually keep a distance, perhaps noting only that the funeral took place with a photo taken from a discreet distance.
But like just about everything in this business, there is an asterisk. Sometimes the news dictates that we cover a funeral.
Which brings us to the tragedy this week surrounding the family of Eagles head coach Andy Reid.
There are a couple of reasons why we decided to cover the funeral of Garrett Reid, the coach’s oldest son whose body was discovered Sunday morning in a dorm room at Lehigh University, where the team holds its summer training camp.
First, Andy Reid is a public figure. Everything he does in news. In this football-crazed town, big news. As head coach of the Eagles, jsut about every facet of his life is fair game for news coverage. He lives in the proverbial fish bowl. A few years back, when his two sons had their scrapes with the law, he received a lot of coverage for things that had nothing to do with how the Eagles were performing on the field. That goes with the territory when you are head coach of the Eagles.
Secondly, the funeral was occurring right here in Delaware County. More than 900 people packed the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints on Paxon Hollow Road in the Broomall section of Marple Township.
We had both a reporter and photographer at the church. No cameras were allowed inside and photographers were kept at a distance.
That did not stop our photographer, Julia Wilkinson, from getting a single image that told you everything you need to know about what happened yesterday.
It appears on Page 1 today, as well as our DelcoTimes.com website. It depicts Coach Reid hugging two young men, I believe they're his sons, obviously offering strength and consolation in one of the worst instances a family can endure.
When we first posted that image yesterday, I wondered if we would hear from readers who thought – as they often do in these instances – that we were performing the usual “vulture” role of the media, intruding on a profoundly personal moment of untold grief for the Reid family. In fact several people went on our Facebook page and posted comments accusing us of doing just that.
But I still made the decision to use that powerful image on Page 1 today, because that single photo tells me more about what happened yesterday than any words.
It is my hope that we did not heap further suffering on the Reid family in their moment of grief.
I don’t believe we did.
I did notice that a very similar image appeared on the front page of both the Philadelphia Inquirer and the Back Page of the Daily News.
Photographers don’t take any joy in these events. They are doing their jobs. And I was doing mine. That’s why that photo was on today’s front page.
It does not mean I don’t feel for Andy Reid. I do. I am a father as well as a newspaper editor.
There is nothing natural about a parent burying a child. It is about the worst thing that can happen to a mother or father.
As I wrote earlier this week, my heart breaks for Andy Reid.
It broke a little more after seeing that photo.
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