So Goes Galion — So Goes the World
by GalionLive • February 28, 2010 • Life in Galion, News & Views, Schools & Health • 5 Comments
GalionLive Editorial – A look back at an interesting week and the role of media in local news coverage.
We live in interesting times, you and I.
Right now, at this moment, our culture is going through a profound shift in the ways that we communicate and build community, a type of change not seen in multiple generations. As we move further into the “digital age,” there is a growing recognition that some valued commodities – among them paper-based media – will be changing dramatically or even going away entirely. One primary challenge for newspapers is that putting ink on paper and getting it to readers has always had a hefty cost associated with it, and so paper media simply cannot print everything which comes their way. Now confronted with new media that promise and provide limitless content at a next-to-nothing cost, traditional media has reacted in a number of ways.
It is more than that cost, however – it is also a revision in the sense of who should have a role in reporting the news. Traditional journalism is based on the model of a paid, trained reporter collecting news, editors deciding which news is most important to share, and then the creation of content. In contrast, the new digital-based media allows for a community conversation to occur which not only helps to clarify and tell more complete stories, but often participates in reporting them. The first stories of the recent plane landing in the Hudson River, for instance, did not come from local TV stations or from one of the New York Times’ 1200 staff journalists – it came from text and photos posted on Twitter. Those “tweets” were just as much “news” as the polished piece in the New York Post appearing the next day. In fact, it has been said that we live in a time when the increasingly the word “journalists” can be applied to “…the people formerly known as the audience.”
There’s no need to look far afield for examples of emerging issues in the world of media and journalism. In fact, Galion is one of several places across the country where these issues are now being explored, and quite possibly as openly as anywhere else in Ohio. This past week has provided an insight into one of these issues.
Last week, the Galion community was confronted with a challenging situation stemming from a violent attack occurring at Galion High School. Within twenty-four hours, I had heard the names of an alleged victim and alleged attacker from high school students, friends, and business associates. I reacted first, as might be expected, with concern for the victim as well as that of a parent hoping that his child is being educated in a safe environment. I will share that I had little doubt then or now that officials with Galion City Schools, the Galion Police Department, and the Crawford County Court system would handle this matter in an appropriate and thorough manner.
As the week progressed, I watched both the coverage by local press – chiefly the Galion Inquirer, Bucyrus Telegraph-Forum and Mansfield News Journal – as well as the conversation occurring on Facebook, Twitter and on GalionLive. I made an initial decision that GalionLive would not “cover” the event itself, but would rather let the participants on GalionLive engage in their own dialogue. Initially, comments on this site did not include names or specifics, but rather centered on issues such as safety in schools, the role of parents, etc.. In fact, the first mention of the victim’s name online occurred in the comment of a possible GHS student on his own Facebook page, and the first comment on GalionLive occurred in a post by the victim’s own uncle, who shared details of the youth’s condition after returning from visiting him in Columbus. At that time I included a short mention of the Facebook Page established to convey to the young man prayer and words of support. The alleged perpetrator’s name has never been mentioned in reporting by GalionLive itself.
On Thursday, I was interviewed by Terricha Bradley of Gannett (the Telegraph-Forum and News-Journal) relative to the issue of publishing the names of alleged juvenile offenders. My comments were included in those publications on Friday; I greatly enjoyed Terricha’s story and the probing questions she posed. Then, in the Saturday edition of the Galion Inquirer, a story included comments about the situation and that paper’s treatment of names associated with the incident.
I have long known of the position of some (not all) traditional media to refrain from publishing the names of alleged juvenile offenders – first, because doing so prior to charges could risk libel suits if identities are incorrect, and second because of the thought that juveniles have the right to have to keep private youthful indiscretions. I am not aware of a corresponding stated concern for the rights of a known victim of a crime, although one might well also lie in the area of privacy. These concerns, however, are largely the product of a time when, because a local daily newspaper was the only means of relatively permanent local mass communication, keeping those names private would, in theory at least, help keep them private. Today, however, while the entire community is discussing names and facts online in open forums, in open sight of thousands of citizens (and I might add at this point that the number of Galion-area residents registered on Facebook alone greatly exceeds the number of subscribers to the Galion Inquirer), different dynamics are clearly at play.
GalionLive is part of the new breed of digital media. The Galion Inquirer referred obliquely to us in its Saturday article when it referred to “…another local social networking site.” Doing so was obviously a bit catty (it actually followed a specific mention of the Facebook site), but it was also incorrect, or at least incomplete. GalionLive is involved in social networking, but it is also involved in news gathering and dissemination. We report news just like the Inquirer does, but we also allow Galionites to do their own reporting through sharing of comments and engaging in dialogue, provided they meet our terms of service – no profanity, no outright personal attacks, and nothing which would otherwise constitute the basis for legal action. Since our official launch in April of 2009 those criteria have been in operation. It would be as it I referred to the Inquirer in this post as “…sports news published daily in Galion” instead of by name and by full content. I know that the Inquirer is aware of GalionLive, by the way, as the current and last three reporters of the Inquirer are members on our site and all know me personally, as I have personally known the last three Inquirer editors.
Like similar sites sites across the country, GalionLive is dealing with issues never before presented to media coverage. As I look back, I am pleased to share that the decisions made this past week in terms of allowing public discussion but “officially” reporting only the victim’s name, and that after a family member revealed it on the site, were right. One of the main goals of GalionLive is to shepherd our community into this new world of journalism with professionalism, respect and courtesy, and we did so in our first major test. We were pleased this past week when GalionLive was one of the first sites recognized by the new GoHyperlocal.com in its efforts to highlight local “hyperlocal” websites nationwide which provide an example to follow – in fact, we were one of the first ten sites posted. We promise to continue that high standard into the future.
Photos: Newspapers – DRB62/Creative Commons License; GalionLive screenshot
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