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STORY: Too grim for young readers

| March 28, 2014 9:20 PM

I would like to express my displeasure with Keith Cousins’ article on the front page of the Cd’A Press Wednesday morning (to which my family subscribes). As a parent of a 12-year-old who attends Canfield MS and an uncle to a 15-year-old girl who attends Cd’A HS I would have strongly preferred that the specific details on the methods and means by which Jonathan Samuel died were omitted while we, as parents, work with the school to let the kids digest and process the fact that a fellow student was murdered this week.

I understand the need to report the news and the importance to inform your readers of current events. I also believe I understand the need for some big news to help with advertising and your business. What I believe is lost in Mr. Cousins’ article is some accommodations for a large portion of your subscribers who currently are, will be, or have been, parents or students at Canfield MS and will have to deal with the impact of this event (and now this article). Responsible reporting requires more thought then making sure the details are accurate. It includes understanding the impact on the readers and the ramifications of how the news is delivered.

This would have been just as impactful of a story had Mr. Cousins simply omitted the details and stated that the boy had been shot and stabbed. Better would have been using the respect of the young boy by stating that Eldon’s younger brother was also killed in the incident and the details are being withheld until the local community and his fellow students have had sufficient time to process the events.

WAYNE BURTON

Hayden