What's newsworthy?

Who is to decide what is newsworthy and what is not? I personally don't find anything wrong with the story (For those of you who don't know what I'm talking about, read my last blog). Just because some don't agree with what's written doesn't mean it's not factual or newsworthy. News reporters have the sole job of reporting factual information to the readers. If this were a murder case you'd want to know exactly how everything played out. Think the O.J. Simpson case. Or think about your conversations with neighbors or friends when an ambulance goes racing by..or you see police cars next door. Most of the conversations are truly speculatory since the facts aren't available. What you read in the paper is based on fact ... not diner gossip.

While I agree that there are sensationalists in the world, this story is not comparable to what's running on the front covers of newspapers across the world. Stories of Somalians dying every day from famine and civil war, terrorists detonating themselves or pop stars baring their unmentionables for photographers grace the newspapers, magazines and Internet sites most people frequent daily. This story describes an act of life at a low point. I would rather that these incidents never happen..but they do.

I don't believe we should put masks over our eyes and see just what we want to see or hear just what we want to hear. Life doesn't throw curveballs to only those who want a challenging pitch. Unfortunately bad things happen and they have to be reported as they happened.

Some of us like stories based on fact, eyewitness accounts and testminoy while others enjoy reading about the type of frosting used to cover grandma's cake for her 70th birthday party, the number of boyfriends Aunt Jezabel has or how many bridesmaids stood with Sally at her wedding. Yes, some people would like nothing else than to read about such breaking news but the majority of the public wants to know what's going on in real life. Since there are many tastes out there a newspaper MUST cover the bad with the good. Trust me, reporters would rather not cover these stories. But they must cover them in order to provide adequate, all-around coverage.

As far as the comment that other news organizations, the ones you consider reputable, spare its viewers or readers from this sort of unethical content...I'm befuddled at what you watch or read on a daily basis. Dora the Explorer might not detail bloody murder clues but Newsline does. KOAM or KSN are reputable sources and they use details.

If the Tribune, as well as any other paper, is to be a real news organization then its staff must publish stories good and bad. If you don't want to read the stories about rape, murder or molestation then glance at the headline and skip the story. You must first realize that part of the problem lies with you for reading said stories.

The Fort Scott Tribune is not an unethical paper. It doesn't lie, manipulate the truth or lead readers in the wrong direction. Neither does its staff. I shall defend them as long as I have the ability to do so.