Coverage of teen’s death didn’t need to be graphic

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January 13, 2012

Coverage of teen’s death didn’t need to be graphic

CNHI The Weatherford Democrat Fri Jan 13, 2012, 08:00 AM CST

WEATHERFORD — Dear editor,

I am a close family friend of Joshua Brown, the teenage driver of the wreck in Springtown.

In this latest story (“Family: wreck survivor a hero,” Jan. 11) you reported on Hoss McCue. You included a line that reads Brown was “screaming for help.”

I would just like to inform you of the graphic and unneccessary visual that provided for the Brown family.

We have had four different people on the scene of the accident, two of which were the firefighters, tell us that from the physical damage they found Josh was, in fact, killed on impact, therefore no “screams” would be audible.

Though Hoss was a survivor of the wreck in that moment his adrenaline would be in such a high state that there is no definite way to know who he saw or heard screaming.

Either way, even if Josh had been “screaming for help,” do you really find it neccessary to include such a graphic visual in your story that would do nothing more than re-open emotional wounds his family and close friends are experiencing?

Responsible journalism should look at the full scope of the story and while aiming to be informative it should also be proofread with empathetic compassion so that those reading it do not experience the turmoil that one little sentence has caused a family already mourning the death of their son, brother, uncle and friend.

Amanda Rickman,

Weatherford

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Coverage of teen’s death didn’t need to be graphic

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