I was reminded again yesterday of just how different the world and environment I work in today is, as to the one I toiled in just a few years ago.
Perhaps it was fitting that it was New Year's. After all, there are no holidays in today's news environment.
That's not especially new.
The way we interact with readers is.
There was a time when we would print the news once a day. Such a thing is a quaint memory of a time gone forever.
Today we "publish" news 24 hours a day.
But just as importantly, we have much more interaction with readers.
Much of that is on social media, as we spread the news on Facebook and Twitter.
It is there that I am constantly reminded these days of something else that is different about this business. Yes, I have a voice, some would say a large one in our community.
But it is not the only one.
And our readers, especially those on social media, are not shy about sharing their feelings.
In effect, every person with a smart phone today is a publisher, able to offer their views to a massive audience.
Early yesterday afternoon I published a story on an appeal that is being filed by David Desper. He is the man from right here in Trainer, Delaware County, who entered a guilty plea in what is now a fairly famous case of road rage. Desper for some reason pulled out a gun and fired a shot into another car he was jockeying with for position on Route 100 in Chester County as the road goes from two lanes down to one as it merges onto Route 202.
The bullet snuffed out the life of a vibrant recent high school graduate. Bianca Roberson was to start her college life in just a few days. Instead she became the victim of a senseless moment of gun violence.
As part of his plea deal, Desper was sentence to 20 to 40 years in state prison. It was not the maximum, nor certainly not the much more lenient sentence sought by the defense.
Now Desper is filing a petition in court seeking leniency.
In their arguments, Desper's lawyer describes him as a "kind, caring, gentle man." Some of his friends, many of whom also testified as character witnesses on his behalf, referred to him as a "gentle giant."
Good luck with that, if the reaction on Facebook is any barometer.
Readers were quick to react, and they did not mince their words.
In one word, they were outraged.
But they also did something else as they vented their feelings about this latest legal tactic. It is something I should be accustomed to by now, but it still manages to lodges itself in my gut like a massive rock.
Many of those who were commenting on social media took the newspaper to task for the description of Desper.
For some reason, they seemed to believe we were asserting that Desper was a "gentle giant."
I assure you that was not the case. We were reporting the argument being used by his defense.
We described him as we always do now that he has been convicted. He is a road-rage killer. A murderer.
I will leave the question of leniency up to the judge in the case. She can either hold a hearing or just reject the petition altogether.
There is something else I want to make clear in this case. We have reported on it extensively, in part because of the fact that Desper was a Delaware County resident.
But we also have reported at great length on Bianca Roberson, including the heartbreak her family continues to endure.
We absolutely did not mean to lessen that in any way in our reporting on this new appeal by Desper. At the same time, it is not something we can ignore.
It is now part of the public record of this case.
We will continue to report on the fallout from this case.
And I am sure our readers will continue to do so as well.
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