NHS powerlifting background
Published Sunday, April 13, 2008
More than once in my newspaper career I've wished there was a way to personally sit down with every reader and explain a particular situation.
Last week presented one of those times.
Many of you were outraged, upset and bewildered by the way our staff covered the arrest of four members of the Natchez High powerlifting team. We received phone calls, e-mails, visits and angry stares for several days.
But I had the privilege of sitting face-to-face with three concerned readers — individually — and explaining the full story.
And though they may not have walked away agreeing entirely, I feel certain all three walked away understanding the newspaper's situation and feeling better about things themselves.
Since it's not possible for me to knock on everyone in the area's door and go through a 30 minute conversation about what happened last week, I'll try to reach some of you here.
The Natchez High powerlifting team competed in the state championship in Jackson last Saturday. Our staff wasn't aware beforehand that they would be traveling to the event. Typically, we rely on coaches to let us know about such events, since schedules on some of the less crowd-driven sports aren't readily available.
But even if we had known about it, it was unlikely that we would have been able to send a reporter or a photographer to cover it. Right now we only have one photographer working full-time and one sports person (the sports editor). Both those folks are required to cover many things in a day, and the sports editor has to put the sports pages together. A four hour round trip to Jackson isn't something we can do right now, even though we'd like to.
Monday evening, the powerlifting coach Joe Johnson came by the office and told us about the big win. He gave us a list of winners and a photo from a digital camera. The sports editor was off this day, because he'd worked the weekend, so I personally talked with the coach.
We published the list of winners in the next day's paper, but the photo turned out to be at a tiny resolution and we couldn't print it.
So, I asked Jeff Edwards, our sports editor, to call Coach Johnson on Tuesday to set up a time for us to come out and take some photos of the guys and do a story.
Our plan was to run it in Wednesday's edition as the centerpiece package on the front of the sports section.
Jeff touched base with Coach Johnson who originally asked that we come met with the guys the following week. Jeff asked to do it sooner, and they settled on a Wednesday afternoon meeting.
Wednesday, Jeff was on his way to Natchez High School at approximately 3 p.m.
At the same time, Mary Hood — our city news reporter — had just come back to the office from the police station with information about six arrests of teens who were reportedly all on the powerlifting team.
Jeff, already at NHS, went ahead with his interview and our photographer took photos.
When Jeff got back that afternoon we filled him in on the latest details and began to talk about our dilemma.
Should we run a story on the front page saying members of the team were arrested on the same day that the sports page reported proudly of their achievements just days before their arrest?
The overwhelming answer to that question was "no."
It simply wasn't appropriate.
So we opted to hold the sports story until today's edition. Giving the matter a few days to settle would be more fair to the young men who were not involved in the alleged crimes. And typically, we can give things a bit more space in the Sunday edition.
Many of our readers have expressed anger over the fact that the headline said NHS powerlifting.
I understand where those feelings come from. I'm a huge supporter of the public schools, and it pains me every time we have to report bad news about any of the public schools.
But, four of these young men had one very big thing in common. The fact that they were on the same team tied them together. It made the story what it was.
If four Natchez Democrat employees were arrested on the same charges for working together — outside of the office — to commit a crime, I would expect the story to reflect the obvious tie.
Yes, the crimes are a stain on the rest of the team who did nothing wrong. That's a fact of life.
In grade school, teachers often threaten their classes by saying "There shall be no talking, and if there is noise we will have no recess." Innocent, quiet children who do not talk are inevitably punished because of the deeds of the talkers.
This is simply a more grown up example of the same situation.
We hope that today's story on the powerlifting team's wins can be something the other young men will cut out and keep for their scrapbooks.
And though I know many of you will disagree with our actions, I do hope that knowing the whole story helps you understand things a bit more fully.
Thanks.
Julie
Comments
I agree with you
Thanks Julie. Now I understand. God Bless.
Thanks so much, sweet Julie! I am in total agreement with you. I only wish others would see it that way. The worst thing about this situation is the boys get a pat on the back from the public for stealing. It's almost like "They might be thieves, but they sure can lift some heavy stuff!" I realize the whole group was not involved and those who did no wrong should be getting the biggest piece of the glorious, and well-deserved pie, not those who intentionally set out to take someone else's property.
Julie, it was very considerate of you to take the time to explain some things to us readers. I was wondering if NHS has a school paper. If they do, do you think it might be possible to use some of their reporters and photographers as contributors to The Democrat. If someone could possibly be issued a press pass, travel with the team, and then write the story for The Democrat we could have a lot more news about all the events the schools take part in without stretching your staff too thin. It would also give some of these budding journalists some experience in the field.
Natchez High does have a school paper.
I actually met their advisor on Thursday at a journalism workshop at Co-Lin. She and three students attended a session I led. We talked for a bit that day about their paper, and specifically about how they would cover the powerlifting story.
They seemed like a very sharp crowd.
We've gone out there in the past trying to recruit sports writers and not had a lot of luck. I think, in the fall at least, they only had one male on staff ... and no sports-minded females, I guess.
But if anyone knows of an NHS student who would like to do some work for us, please let me know.
That is a great idea. We do have a Vidalia High School students who writes often for us and has done great work in the sports department.
Thanks
Julie
Great article Julie. Explanations, such as this, go a long way towards educating us of the difficulties you face as a small town newspaper and do much to answer the criticisms often leveled at the paper.
I, for instance, had no idea that your staff was so small. Now I can see why they are limited in what they can accomplish in a given period of time.
Julie,
Since I work in the public school system now I certainly heard plenty about what people thought about the article and the headline. Thank you for taking the time to explain how this situation unfolded and why certain choices were made.
Good job as always Julie! Thanks!
Very well said Julie.
I approve.
There's a lesson here, and not just for those kids. You own ALL of your actions, good and bad. It will be nice if you get credit for your successes, but you have no one but yourself to blame for your poor choices. And making the front page with poor choices is always a risk, no matter what you're doing right. The fact that four of the kids were on the power-lifting team was part of the newsworthiness, and maybe those that can learn from this will learn it better because of the way the Democrat presented it. Good job Julie, and good explanation.
Julie,
After reading your blog and todays article, I can understand the position you were in. While I still think the fact that they were members of the powerlifting team is totally irrelevant (akin to stating a criminal suspect's church affiliation, Garden Club connections, etc.), I certainly don't feel that there was any malice involved in the decision. I know you to be extremely supportive of all the schools in our area and regret that one professional decision has implied otherwise.
Julie you are full of bull ! That does not justify the headlines. Nice try though.
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