John Donelon, a concerned citizen who inspired my story. Photo credited to Andrew Mitchell
The feeling of butterflies has sat in my stomach since yesterday’s print edition of the Missourian came out. My story about the Columbia police’s procedure of not writing tickets for fender-benders and similar ‘simple’ accidents seems twisted to not represent the facts, or the seriousness of the issue.
Admittedly, I was out of town when the story was being prepared to run in the Missourian, but the experience I’ve had with the copy desk and ACEs has shown me that changes will be made without the writer’s consent.
The biggest issue for me is the headline that ran in the print edition. “No Injuries, No Report” is nearly the opposite of the message I was trying to convey in my story and I feel I worked exceptionally hard to make the issue clear. It seems as if the design editor didn’t even read the story. The issue of writing reports comes down to apparent monetary value of the damage done, and whether a tow truck had to be called to clean up the accident. The Columbia police as well as any law enforcement agency takes the citizens’ safety and well-being extremely seriously, so accusing the CPD, on the front page, of not reporting injurious accidents is just ridiculous.
Thank goodness for whatever small miracle kept me from being sued for libel. The headline is a blatant statement of false facts and not calling the writer to change or confirm a headline is pretty blatant reckless disregard for the truth of the matter. Thanks very much to Sandy Davidson.
little Peaces 