Yesterday, Edmonson County suffered a tragic accident that took the life of a Brownsville woman. We arrived at the scene to cover the incident just like the many accidents we've reported on dozens of times. Upon arrival, we began to document the situation with notes and photos, as per our regular policy.
Seven minutes after the call came in, there were reports of Facebook posts that had already begun to circulate, discussing a fatal accident, none of which came from us. We don't know how anyone knew there was a fatality because at that point, not all the officials had arrived on scene, and we certainly were not aware. Later, we were asked by officials on scene to advise the public on the situation, and since multiple rumors had been passed around on Facebook and other social media that contained incorrect information, we were asked to confirm there had been a fatality and the road would be closed for a long period of time. We did not release any names nor the makes of the vehicles involved. Out of the dozens of photos we took at the scene, we published a wide-angle shot of the scene to go with the short update. We felt like the photo was obscure enough that vehicles couldn't be identified but we made a mistake in doing so because apparently one or more of the vehicles were recognized, even though the photo did not show any victims, and the caption didn't list any names. After a few readers contacted us and suggested that the vehicles could possibly be identified, we agreed and removed the photo. Since Facebook users can easily and oft times eagerly share material, the photo circulated for a few minutes before it was removed and many people were offended. Oddly enough, several of those same offended people shared the photo for some reason, but neverless, we take responsibility for publishing it in the first place. We never released any names until the Kentucky State Police confirmed that families were notified of the tragedy, but with the photo and the spreading of information by the public, we were informed that some family members were able to put two and two together to discover the tragic news. This cannot happen and we must do our part in the future to keep it from happening again. As of today, we are implementing a new policy in which we will not publish photos of any serious accidents until we have been informed by law enforcement that the families of those involved have been contacted. We also would like to make a public apology to family members, friends, our readers, our county, and everyone that was negatively affected by the way we handled this tragedy. One of the reasons we report information so quickly is because of the instantaneous society we live in. People will like and share just about anything on social media, whether it can be verified or not. We want to get verified information out to the public immediately in order to curb misinformation or slow down rumors, but there's a right and a wrong way to do that, and that's what we promise to improve on in the future. We hope you accept our apology and we send our deepest condolences to those affected by this horrible event. -Darren Doyle, Owner, Publisher, and Editor of Edmonson Voice LLC.
Tommy Grimes
12/15/2016 09:16:34 am
Somebody posted something 7 minutes into it and people are blaming the news company? Maybe more people should grow up and own up to their behavior like this editor just did.
Cheryl Wilson
12/15/2016 09:20:19 am
Thank you for this letter. People can gripe all they want but when they want to know whats happeing in this county they all go to the voice
Terri Webb
12/15/2016 09:28:16 am
I am very appreciative of your work in keeping the community informed. We understand that some issues are sensitive and you stepped up to make changes accordingly. Thank you for all you do. Prayers for all involved with yesterday's tragedy.
Beth Hawkins
12/15/2016 10:00:39 am
What an unfortunate situation......the policy change and graceful, humble apology should be appreciated by your readers. I very much appreciate the acknowledgement and explanation. Kudos for the class.
Dist.2 Constable Office
12/15/2016 10:25:22 am
I have worked on countless scenes w the Edmonson Voice covering it, and not ONE TIME have I ever seen them act in any inappropriate manner, nor have I EVER witnessed them taking pictures in any improper manner. Darren has always acted as a PROFESSIONAL on emergency scenes, asking us if it is safe or okay to step over and take some pics and if he is told to wait a few he does not bully his way into a scene, he does as emergency officials ask.
donna carroll
12/15/2016 11:18:22 am
the media and people pushing it out there before it is official, can hurt a lot of people and has. People of Edmonson county please show a little dissgresion.
Andrew Whobrey
12/15/2016 12:32:17 pm
This apology is a bad trend to commence.. If this is the case, shouldn't we back up and issue similar apologies to other similar situations? One that stands out in my mind is that of Ronnie Rountree.
Tommy Grimes
12/15/2016 01:25:07 pm
the difference with the rountree wreck (and you can look it up on the voice) was that story was posted two days after it happened according to the date on the article. plenty of time for family to be called. and you can look at the news today where both channel 13 and the daily news posted pictures from a fatal wreck right after it happened today and nobody is hollering how bad they are. its part of the news Comments are closed.
|
Archives
June 2023
|