What kind of coverage do you expect when bad things happen?

3 comments August 18th, 2008

Since I’ve become an editor, I spend most of my time in the newsroom. In my first five years here, though, I was a reporter covering news and business. Sometimes I miss those days because I enjoyed getting out of the office and talking to people. I wanted to tell stories that were full of emotion, that readers could connect with. Sometimes those stories were of happy times; many times they were not.

On Saturday, we got word there was a shooting death in Rockford, the city’s 13th homicide this year. I went out to the home in the 100 block of 15th Avenue initially so I could get a photo to publish to rrstar.com. I snapped a few pictures and then walked over to a few men who were standing outside the Polish Falcons Club next door. The men told me the victim, Jeremy Butera, was a nice guy who had just bought the home less than a year ago.

“This is not good in any neighborhood,” said Jim Cooper, president of the club. “But it’s really tough when it happens next door. It’s too bad, really.”

When I got to the house 30 minutes earlier, I saw a young man pacing on the porch and talking on his cell phone. I dreaded going up to him, but I saw him talking to a reporter and photographer from WREX-13.

So, I took a deep breath and headed his way. His name was Dan Egbert, and he was Jeremy’s childhood friend. I met Jeremy’s 2-year-old son Tre and talked with Jeremy’s mother Bonnie. At such a sad time, this family welcomed me into their home and shared their stories. Dan allowed me to shoot video of him sharing a memory of Jeremy.

It’s important we try to talk to victims’ families, but you hate to be intrusive at such a tough time. Sometimes the families say no. Sometimes they say yes. I understand both answers.

I often wonder what kind of coverage our readers expect of us in cases like homicides. I understand the answers will differ depending on perspective. So, what’s yours?