The Register-Star placed a potentially cruel headline atop a breaking story this afternoon on its website. The headline leveled an accusation which seemed at best premature, at worst potentially defamatory, and either way tragic. The wording flatly accused a 24-year-old man involved in a terrible car crash of leaving his 21-year-old friend "behind to die."
Now, I have no details about the incident except the sketchy information presented in the story. Possibly the headline’s accusation might be proved correct, or possibly the young man was badly disoriented after the crash and did not realize what happened, or possibly something else entirely transpired.
But strictly from a journalistic perspective, the initial reporting in the story did not in itself seem adequate to justify the accusatory and inflammatory headline. Newspapers are normally careful to report charges as “alleged” until proven, and in this case the story itself states that no charges have been filed thus far. Yet the headline in effect declares the 24-year-old guilty.
A more neutral header at this stage of a developing story would be the more typical practice. The type of accusation leveled by the headline-writer is best left to the courts, with objective reporting of the evidence and charges and defenses as they unfold, and not getting ahead of itself.
UPDATE: Sometime overnight, the online headline was shortened by the paper. The accusation of abandonment is there still, somewhat toned down, but more properly attributed to the police rather than stated as a demonstrated fact.
Now, I have no details about the incident except the sketchy information presented in the story. Possibly the headline’s accusation might be proved correct, or possibly the young man was badly disoriented after the crash and did not realize what happened, or possibly something else entirely transpired.
But strictly from a journalistic perspective, the initial reporting in the story did not in itself seem adequate to justify the accusatory and inflammatory headline. Newspapers are normally careful to report charges as “alleged” until proven, and in this case the story itself states that no charges have been filed thus far. Yet the headline in effect declares the 24-year-old guilty.
A more neutral header at this stage of a developing story would be the more typical practice. The type of accusation leveled by the headline-writer is best left to the courts, with objective reporting of the evidence and charges and defenses as they unfold, and not getting ahead of itself.
UPDATE: Sometime overnight, the online headline was shortened by the paper. The accusation of abandonment is there still, somewhat toned down, but more properly attributed to the police rather than stated as a demonstrated fact.
