Jacksonville Daily News: Lindell Kay is Getting Some Undeserved Flack
Lindell Kay isn’t my biggest fan and, frankly, I’m not a big fan of his writing or public speaking abilities. But he’s getting some flack on his blog that he really doesn’t deserve.
It started when Kay blogged about the autopsy for a home-free fellow that was murdered along some railroad tracks in Jacksonville in June.
Kay took issue with the nearly-day-and-a-half delay in the finding of the body and the reporting by the Jacksonville Police Department to the media.
The JPD did not release information about Kozak’s death for a day and a half. Police said they didn’t know what they had without word from the medical examiner. But after WITN’s Chelsea Donovan stepped into them pretty good, they sent out a two sentence press release announcing an “unattended death.”
Many commenters on Off the Cuff have criticized Kay for expressing his displeasure at the delay in reporting what is, without doubt, a newsworthy event. It’s gotten so rough over there that Kay has two more posts related to the subject.
In this, though, Lindell Kay is right: The police should’ve made the call to the Jacksonville Daily News before they did. By waiting, not only did they delay the chance for potential witnesses to come forward, but they gave the accused more time to run and hide. What if this had been a serial issue and there were more murders?
The police had enough information when the body was found to declare it a homicide and even if they didn’t feel comfortable making that declaration, they should’ve notified the media that they found a body. Lindell Kay doesn’t deserve the attacks he’s receiving at Off the Cuff. He’s doing his job as a reporter and trying to get information to the public.
