Naked
A reader writes:
Concerning the news about Ruffin Hobbs' death:
I find the word "naked" so unnecessary in this report. This is for the investigative report not for those of us who did not know this man. It seems to trivialize his death in a weird way. Is this journalism of today...titillating words thrown in to give us a quick image?
It just didn't seem necessary.
This is the offending reference: "Jones said a neighbor found Hobbs' naked body about 9 a.m. Monday at his home on McBane Mill Road. He appears to have hit his head on his stone front stoop, and a subsequent autopsy revealed a broken neck and a fractured skull."
The bulk of my response:
I understand your concern. That's actually why we did not make a big deal about the fact that he wasn't wearing any clothes. Had we wanted to titillate, it would have been in the first paragraph rather than the sixth. We included that detail because we thought it was unusual. So
much about the story is unusual -- the doorway opening into space, the cob webs, and, of course, the death itself -- this, to us, was just another piece.
How about you: Was including the detail that Hobbs was naked when he plunged to his death helpful or unnecessary?
Comments (1)
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When I read that, I immediately wondered if he had been sleepwalking. Lots of people sleep in the buff.
Posted on August 1, 2008 12:04 PM