Decisions in publishing: A soldier's death
We published a story today about Pruitt Rainey, who was killed Sunday in Afghanistan.
The Burlington Times-News had the story, too, but didn't publish.
Editor Madison Taylor writes: We actually had a story ready to go Monday night that was at least as documented as the current one by the News and Record (sic). By Tuesday night we had a lot of information the N&R didn't have -- including the rank and base where the young man was stationed.
But what we didn't have was military confirmation and as an editor who worked in a military town that presents a problem for me. In addition, a military casuality officer had yet to visit the family by Tuesday night -- which is unusual based on my experience.
From our perspective the News and Record story with only two sources, no military rank, no base is way to skimpy to publish.
Our reason for publishing wasn't complicated. The death of a local serviceman in fighting in Afghanistan is news, and we believed it to be true. We had family and church confirmation of his death. There was a lot more information we wanted for the story, but couldn't get. Still, we didn't think much about holding the story to await the military.
The Times-News went ahead and published its story on its Web site this morning, presumably without military confirmation. Because the News and Record (sic) has a story on its Web site about this incident and Channel 2 does as well, I’ve decided to post ours so readers will at least have more information.
But I’m not comfortable with it.
I would not have changed what we did, but I understand the Times-News decision. When to publish what you have on sensitive topics is often a tough call.