You were the Editor

During an armed robbery of an electronics store, two gunmen hold several customers hostage. After hours of negotiations, police storm the store and shoot the gunmen to death. In the gunfire, one of the robbers kills one of the hostages. Later, a coroner tells your reporter the dead hostage may have been committing a crime himself because he had video equipment hidden in his clothing which was "apparel that shoplifters use." The fact the dead hostage may have been killed while shoplifting is news. Do you:

A.  Use the information, being careful to attribute it to the official source.

Readers  33%
Editors  43%

B.  Do not use this information because the dead man can't explain himself and, while the evidence is suspicious of shoplifting, the dead man's family shouldn't have to endure shame as well as grief.

Readers  67%
Editors  57%


Readers comments:

"The paper should not judge the dead man's motives."

"Shoplifters on a regular basis do not have their names in papers, so why bother."

"There's nothing to be gained by the assumption shoplifting was committed. Leave it out."

"There's no proof that the dead man had evil intentions."

Related Lesson

You Be the Editor