Minneapolis Star-Tribune "reader representative" Lou Gelfand
writes:<p>
Many readers wanted to take the cudgel to the writer of Tuesday's front-page headline, "Infant killed; throat is slit."
Typical was Janet Sarver, a mental health worker, who said, "The headline was horribly graphic, disrespectful to family. Just write, 'Infant died, mother suspected.' You were going for shock value."
Managing editor Scott Gillespie commented, "We never want to sensationalize the news, and we spend a lot of time discussing the impact of tragic photos, headlines and stories on our readers. In this case, our night editors decided the fact that the child's throat had been cut was what made the case so unusual. That, in fact, was one of the key reasons we decided to display the story on Page 1."
Steve Fisher, night copy editing supervisor, explored it deeper ....<p>***What's to explore? Simple story, simple headline. No need to explain. (Janet's suggested headline would have been a howler.) "Reader representatives" should not waste time with such trivial complaints. Certainly, "night copy editing supervisors" have better things to do.***<p>[ August 11, 2003: Message edited by: blanp ]</p>