The Jacksonville Daily News: Revealing a Sex Crime Victim’s Name is Bad
by Thomas Brock - June 7th, 2008.Filed under: Bloggers, Jacksonville Daily News, Mainstream Media, News, Writing.
Lindell Kay at the Jacksonville Daily News made a terrible, terrible mistake: He identified the victim in a sex crime.
The online article has been edited and includes the following disclaimer:
Editor’s Note: Information that mistakenly appeared in the original version of this report has been removed.
But, unfortunately for the victim, there are (at least) tens-of-thousands of dead-tree versions of the article that can’t be edited. There’s also the online version of the print-edition that’s still available with the unedited article.
For full disclosure: Kay called me out on his blog earlier this week for identifying an error in an article he wrote regarding a child hit by a car while crossing the street. This post isn’t meant to be malicious, but it’s important that when the paper of record makes mistakes, especially like this one, they be made aware and reminded of it.
June 7th, 2008 at 8:23 pm
Wow. That is not a minor mistake, without repercussions.
As for Kay… A professional writer should have caught that when proofreading. Getting pissy because someone mentions it is bad form, not to mention a bit childish. It was a mistake, it got missed, he dropped the ball. A simple, “Ooops, thanks for catching that,” would have sufficed. What’s with the attitude?
June 7th, 2008 at 8:36 pm
Thanks for the comment, Lou.
You’re absolutely right, by the way, and I don’t think we, as Jacksonville Daily News’ customers, should settle for less than high-quality writing from a paid-writer.
June 7th, 2008 at 10:45 pm
Wow. That’s something that most lay people know not to do…I would expect more from a professional. Mr. Kay and the newspaper owe the victim a huge apology.
June 8th, 2008 at 11:41 am
Mr. Brock,
Trust me when I say that the JDN staff feels terrible about the error in that article, however, I would like to ask you to keep in mind that we are, like you, human. As are our editors. Mistakes will happen from time to time, as they will in your life and in the lives of other readers. However, it is not illegal to publish the name of a victim. It’s in bad taste, which we all fully recognize. I hope you have a great beautiful Sunday.
June 8th, 2008 at 1:20 pm
Amanda,
Thank you for visiting and your comment.
I agree that the Jacksonville Daily News staff are all human, I think that, as the paper of record for Jacksonville and Onslow County (not to mention surrounding areas), the writing and editorial staff should be much more careful.
Unfortunately, the Jacksonville Daily News’ editors and writers make an awful lot of mistakes.
June 9th, 2008 at 12:32 am
[...] You can read his blog entry about it here. [...]
June 9th, 2008 at 12:43 am
I see the value in pointing out errors to the JDNews, but wouldn’t a phone call or email suffice?
In other blogs their action (more indepth news quicker) speak louder than their words (citation of errors and unconstructive criticism). Both Orange and Guilford counties have robust blogging communities which I think are better than the (already good) local news sources. Maybe they can be examples of constructive discussions that lead to actual improvement.
June 9th, 2008 at 1:17 am
Did I say “a bit” childish?
My mistake.
June 9th, 2008 at 7:52 am
Lindell Kay is one of my favorites! Leave him alone!
June 9th, 2008 at 8:44 am
It is easier to criticize than to be correct.
June 9th, 2008 at 9:05 am
Keep filling the internets (internets is your word, not mine) with boring drivel.
June 9th, 2008 at 12:53 pm
[...] my post (If you haven’t seen the comments there, you should take the [...]
June 9th, 2008 at 2:19 pm
[...] June 7th, Tom Brock posted a blog entry about his local newspaper and how one of the reporters at the Jacksonville Daily News made a huge [...]
June 9th, 2008 at 7:49 pm
Sir: I feel it necessary to clarify the subject of your post. The story did not have the victim’s full name or other identifying information. It contained one reference to the woman’s last name (which is very common) near the end of the article. While this is a major mistake that should never have been made, it was clearly not a purposeful identification of a victim. I am sure none of that is very comforting to the victim, but unfortunately none of us can go back and fix all those papers. All we can do is strive for better in the future.
June 10th, 2008 at 8:00 am
I don’t think anyone has suggested that the mistake was intentional, Jennifer.
Egregious? Yes. Mr. Kay’s response to Mr. Brock infantile and unprofessional? Certainly. Intentional? No one has even vaguely intimated that.
The commonality of the victim’s surname is utterly irrelevant unless your point is to say, “See, it wasn’t so bad.” The editor needed to catch that before press time. That didn’t happen. It’s a huge mistake for which there is simply no excuse.
The continuing spin to marginalize the error is an attempt to defend the indefensible. What needed to happen was the paper and Mr. Kay saying, “Damn, we really screwed the pooch and we’re sorry. We promise it will never happen again.” The end.
Everything after that is just the attempt of a five year old to avoid taking responsibility.
I was disappointed that the paper made such an error, though unsurprised, frankly. Now I’m disgusted. I’ll go back to reading Timmi’s blog and just skipping the paper in it’s entirety.
June 10th, 2008 at 10:04 am
Lou,
Thank you for your comment. It pretty much sums everything up, doesn’t it?
By the way, has anyone seen an apology printed in the Jacksonville Daily News?
June 10th, 2008 at 12:33 pm
How can they print an apology? They are too busy defending themselves on blogs. If they would spend half the time editing their articles that they do reading what anonymous internet posters write about them, they might do their jobs a little better. But that would cut down on their Hooters time.
Readers should be required to lower their standards.But would you go to a dentist that could do a root canal but couldn’t floss his own teeth?
June 10th, 2008 at 8:01 pm
Lou, Great post you made (@8am)
It’s a bit like rubbing salt on an open wound but thought you & Mr. Brock would be entertained by these little tidbits from JDN staff:
==================================
Amanda Hickey Says:
June 9th, 2008 at 12:46 pm
AnnMarie,
Typically before a reporter turns in a story they will read through to to try to catch any errors before the editors do. Then the copy with go through both the editors on duty and then through the copy desk. I hope that helps.
Jennifer Says:
June 9th, 2008 at 2:04 pm
Ann Marie,
Yes. At least three people missed the mistake — including me. And Lindell is not the only one who feels sick about it. I don’t even know what to say, other than I am extremely sorry.
===================================
Like a weatherman, the “reporters” can suck at their job and keep it!
June 10th, 2008 at 8:01 pm
Lou, Great post you made (@8am)
It’s a bit like rubbing salt on an open wound but thought you & Mr. Brock would be entertained by these little tidbits from JDN staff:
==================================
Amanda Hickey Says:
June 9th, 2008 at 12:46 pm
AnnMarie,
Typically before a reporter turns in a story they will read through to to try to catch any errors before the editors do. Then the copy with go through both the editors on duty and then through the copy desk. I hope that helps.
Jennifer Says:
June 9th, 2008 at 2:04 pm
Ann Marie,
Yes. At least three people missed the mistake — including me. And Lindell is not the only one who feels sick about it. I don’t even know what to say, other than I am extremely sorry.
===================================
Like a weatherman, the “reporters” can suck at their job and keep it!