Pubdate: Sun, 15 Jun 2014
Source: Columbus Dispatch (OH)
Copyright: 2014 The Columbus Dispatch
Contact:  http://www.dispatch.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/93
Author: Benjamin J. Marrison

USING NAMES IN DEATHS NECESSARY, AGONIZING

About 10 days ago, our crime reporters heard a dispatcher announce on
a police scanner that two bodies had been found in an apartment on the
Northwest Side. Homicide detectives were on their way.

Reports of a body being found are not uncommon, with people dying of
natural causes, suicides, accidental drug overdoses and such.

But two bodies? That's unusual. Typically, in cases where two bodies
are found it's a murder-suicide or a double homicide, and that's news.

After talking with police, we reported the deaths with a short story
on Dispatch.com and sent a reporter to the apartment. The details were
sketchy.

We learned later that two people -- a man and a woman who had met at a
bar -- had died of accidental drug overdoses.

Drug overdoses aren't something we usually write about. Sadly, they're
too commonplace to be considered news. But double drug overdoses are
unusual. And in this case, because we had already reported that two
people were found dead, we owed our readers an explanation of what
happened along with the names of those who died.

The story outraged family members, who said we had ruined the lives of
the living and the reputations of the dead. (I'm not reprinting their
names now because the goal of this column is to explain why we do
things, not to revisit tragedies and bring additional pain to anyone.)

We can sympathize with family members. Losing a loved one unexpectedly
is extremely difficult under any circumstance. Losing one to drug
abuse seemingly makes it worse. In this case, one of the deceased had
young children, adding to the grief and heartache.

Stories of suicide and drug overdoses are typically not written unless
the events occur in a public place, cause disruption in the community
or involve high-profile individuals. We're not in the dirty-laundry
business.

We do consider how stories will affect people. We discuss it all the
time. But we also have a responsibility to the community.

And once we reported that two bodies were found, we felt obligated to
explain what had happened. Following up on stories is a priority for
us. If we tell you the beginning of a story, we think it's wrong to
leave it unfinished.

If we write a story about an incident -- an officer-involved shooting,
for example -- we keep track of it and report on the resolution. It's
only fair to the people involved, and to readers.

In the aforementioned case, we were mindful of the fact that many
lives were affected by the tragedy. The writers and editors took care
with the story, avoiding details that would make it more sensational.
That's not our objective.

One infuriated caller said we caused great damage.

In fairness, wasn't the damage caused by the drug abuse?

In our view, we reported on the fact that two people were found dead
in an apartment.

I sometimes wonder: If we reported more frequently on overdoses, would
society better understand the risk that comes with drug abuse? My bet:
Those who don't abuse drugs would appreciate it; those who inject
heroin and ingest other drugs wouldn't pay attention.
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MAP posted-by: Matt