Got an interesting letter from the editor today.
I share your feelings for the parents in this matter. A call to them might have cleared this up earlier, but their names were not released to us until Thursday. I also think we may have overplayed the story, and I will discuss that with the editor who handled it. I don't share your feeling, however, that Kevin O'Neal villainized anyone. Kevin is a well-meaning reporter trying to do his job. He reported what he was told by emergency officials who went to the scene. He ran a follow-up story correcting the cause as soon as it was determined by a doctor. We did not name the people involved in either story. And when he thought it was a sleeping incident, he quoted a child services official saying parents who sleep with infants often have good intentions and do not understand the risks. Nothing in the tone or his handling of the story suggests any attempt to villainize anyone.
All that said, I do agree we should have gotten it right the first time around, which means we probably should not have run the story until more information was released. It shows that we should redouble our efforts to be accurate at all costs. I assure you we will take this as a lesson, and try to do better next time.
Sincerely,
Steve Berta
Senior Editor/Public Service
Indianapolis Star
I responded with like -
Thank you for your reply.
I would like to make light of just one point in your response that I feel is in error.
Intentions and results are sometimes loosely linked, meaning that the final outcome of a well intentioned statement or matter may ultimately turn negative. Read the comments left by readers of this very publication and you will clearly see the results of Kevin's intentions. There were many comments that ultimately came to the rescue of the family, but the overall tone is clearly felt. The linkage between the recent educational promotion of the dangers, concerning sleeping with an infant, and the reported story of this family are clearly linked, and not well differentiated as anything but an occurrence of smothering, from having slept in bed with the child.
I know that stories will occasionally have inaccuracies. I believe that this time, those that know the real story found it hard to understand how it got to print without references to sources and verification the first time through. The end result remained the same for the family. We are elated to know that this little girl is alive, but the celebration of that event will forever be tarnished.
Here's to smarter reporting in the future!
Again, thank you for your time.
Looks like they are feeling the pressure from the people on this.
Hope your family is doing well!
