The Lory West tape dilemma
The Northwest Florida Daily News faced a difficult choice on Wednesday.
Lory West was sentenced to four years in prison earier in the day for a 2005 incident in which she hit an illegal immigrant who was riding a bicycle in Destin, then drove home rather than stop.
At West's sentencing, prosecutors played a tape of West speaking from jail to relatives and her boyfriend. On the tape, West spews obscenities and makes repeated derogatory remarks about the victim, Elcio Pimental, and illegal immigrants in general. Prosecutors used the tape to demonstrate West's lack of remorse for the incident.
The Daily News has obtained a copy of the tape, and considered posting it on our Web site. But after listening to it, I decided two things. First, the tape contains so many obscenities and racial slurs that it would be impossible to post an intelligble version of the tape if we attempted to beep out all the offinsive words. Secondly, I decided that I didn't want to post such an obscenity-filled tape raw on our Web site, even though the West case has been very high profile and very controversial.
So we didn't post the tape on our Web site.
Did I make the right choice? Let me know what you think.
Thanks,
Pat Rice
Editor
Northwest Florida Daily News
posted by Patrick Rice @ 7:38 AM
9 Comments
9 Comments:
I just hope you never find a tape of the goat stuff...
The media shouldn't censor content. Especially when folks have a choice whether to click on the item and open in online. A simple written warning next to the link would suffice.
Pat, don't censor. Were all big boys and girls here. Its bad enough we continually get it from our government. If one finds that transcript to distasteful, quit reading.
The hesitation to post the information is understandable. Having owned a publishing company, and as the editor of a daily online news service for a niche market, here is one person's perspective.
One advantage of the internet over the printed version of the paper is that it is possible to post items that the paper considers to be newsworthy without the restrictions that apply to the print version. No doubt, the tapes will be popular; the content will be offensive; and there will be objections from some in the community.
The information is of public interest. Readers and those who use the internet will want to decide for themselves if the material is something worth of reading.
It seems apparent that America's values are changing. While I may disagree with the changes, my approach as a news organization would be to ensure that my organization is in tune with these changes. The circulation of many major newspapers is declining. News tems such as the Anna Nicole Smith affair the the "goat story" referenced in an earllier blog comment are popular. The news outlets that provide this information may not be providing news for an intellectual elite but they are providing a service that their customers want. And, for better or worse, someone will provide the service and the customers will follow.
The internet outlet gives the Daily News a chance to provide content that will appeal to many readers in this market. It will give the new Daily News website a business advantage in the local market by providing a news item of interest to readers.
The internet may not be changing our values as much as it is allowing the public to decide what it really wants. Individuals are no longer restricted by the executives of three major TV networks or the editors of several large daily newspapers.
In deference to the necessity of any organization to be in tune with current trends and the business necessity of remaining profitable, I would post the recordings after providing a warning about the content that would satisfy the company lawyer.
The last guy wrote an essay, but eloquently written. Look> I firmly believe that the immigration issue will come back to haunt us. Even now, it has gone on far too long to reverse the effects our economy will suffer. From health care to TB, I can see countless negatives and very few positives regarding illegal immigration. I am personally a victim of the middle class subcontractor that is currently either joining the illegal bandwagon, or closing up shop. To a degree, I even understand the racial comments, as I too find myself more and more looking at the Latinos with a certain grudge, but I would never condone running them down by car. I believe withholding this collection of vulgarity was the right thing to do.
It is unfortunate that such a terrible incident and conversation took place. But news is news, if the society can stoop so low then that same society should have the guts to air it, publish it, whatever, censoring isn't what America is supposed to be. Offending some people happens either way so why not just publish the news.....
I heard the tapes in court - they serve only that Lorrie West was not the innocent person many in Destin thought she was. SHe had absolutley no remorse regrading her actions on that night.
Why not post a censored f**ck*ng transcript? You don't have to hear the audio to get an understanding of her blatant lack of remorse. But I would like to see a g*dd*mn transcript.
Personally I find it to be quite a shame that they are not posted. There are certainly ways to be certain that only adults have access to the. That being said, being an ADULT we have the RIGHT (don't we, or do we?) to choose what we would like to know or not know. I personally know Lory on a personal level and I really would like to know how she truly reacted to all of this and who she truly is. Merely reading it is not going to get me the same understanding as hearing, tone and voice inflection of how things were said. Anyway, are they not PUBLIC RECORD? I'm not certain if they are or not but if they can be played in an open court and obtained by a newspaper to possibly be posted on the internet to be heard. Then wouldn't it stand to reason that any citizen could appear at the courthouse and request to hear the tapes? However, I do feel that you SHOULD post them on the website. But, if I must go to the courthouse to see, then I guess I will.
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