Pubdate: Sun, 17 Mar 2002
Source: Centre Daily Times (PA)
Copyright: 2002 Nittany Printing and Publishing Co., Inc.
Contact:  http://www.centredaily.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/74
Author: Bob Unger

THE THINKING BEHIND A DRUG DEATH STORY

When a 17-year-old named John F. Gingerich II died Feb. 21, the CDT 
reported the suspected cause of his death: a heroin overdose.

Several people who knew Gingerich wrote letters criticizing our coverage.

"The Centre Daily Times has turned a tragedy into a news story. 
Whatever the cause of death, there is absolutely no excuse for the 
graphic descriptions and assumptions made in (reporter Angela) 
Pomponio's article, not to mention that Johnny was a minor," a 
neighbor of the Gingerich family wrote.

One caller told me, "You have no idea of the pain this family is 
suffering, and your newspaper has added immeasurably to it."

Let me start by saying that the death of a teen-ager in a drug 
overdose is a terrible thing, painful beyond description for his 
close friends and family. It is the kind of news story we at the CDT 
take no joy in writing.

We, too, have children who face the same troubles and challenges, and 
we worry for them just as John Gingerich's family no doubt worried 
for him. Just because we report about the large and small tragedies 
that befall our community and our neighbors does not mean that we are 
immune from trouble ourselves.

I was married for 23 years to a drug addict who died of a self- 
administered overdose just days before I started working at the CDT 
two years ago. My children and I know firsthand what it is to grieve 
such a loss and to know that our neighbors in the community knew how 
their mother died.

CDT editors and reporters discussed what kinds of detail to include 
and leave out of our story about Gingerich's death. We left out some 
details that we believed were too graphic, and we omitted the names 
of some of the people at the Ferguson Township house where the events 
occurred because they had not been charged with a crime.

We decided to publish a partial description of what happened to 
Gingerich as he lapsed into unconsciousness, including the fact that 
he began to bleed from the nose and mouth.

We wanted people -- particularly anyone who might be experimenting 
with or using heroin -- who read the story to know what it was like 
to die from a heroin overdose.

Why?

We wanted to scare them, perhaps scare them enough to get help before 
it was too late for them, too. We did not want any more tragedies, 
any more grieving families.

It is true that Gingerich is a minor and, as such, is treated as a 
juvenile under the law. The police and the courts are not allowed to 
reveal the identities of juveniles charged with breaking the law. In 
no way does that mean newspapers are prevented from publishing the 
identities of juveniles. Usually, we withhold the names of juvenile 
crime suspects because we agree with the courts that children should 
be treated under a different set of standards in matters of crime and 
punishment.

However, that has no bearing on our decision to publish Gingerich's 
name. We report the names of juveniles throughout the newspaper, from 
their achievements on the athletic field and in their scout troops to 
their church activities.

We also report the identities of the victims -- adult or juvenile -- 
of accidents, fires or most crimes (sexual assault and many domestic 
assaults are exceptions) because covering major crime is one of the 
jobs our readers demand.

Police say five people have overdosed on heroin in recent weeks and 
they are working with others in the community to combat its use. It 
is a difficult problem, perhaps more difficult even than Ecstasy and 
some of the other drug problems the CDT has told you about in recent 
months.

More than anything, we wish that we did not have to report that young 
people are being sickened and, in at least two cases in recent 
months, dying as a result of apparent drug use.

But as one who lost to drugs someone close, I would do anything I 
could to reach those who might be using drugs and trying to convince 
themselves that death is what happens to someone else.
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MAP posted-by: Josh