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Report the truth, no matter how ugly

By Joe Martinez on September 13, 2010 3:15 am in Columns, Voices / 4 comments

 

Matt Dobek committed suicide.

Those were four words that the Detroit media establishment would not print for a week.

Dobek, a CMU alumnus and 2009 inductee of the CMU Journalism Hall of Fame, was found dead Aug. 21 after hanging himself at age 51.

Yet, if you only relied on media reports, you would have had no clue that Dobek took his own life.

The Detroit Free Press made no mention of why he died and the Detroit News used the phrase “he died unexpectedly” in their initial reports on the night of his death.

In the coming days following his death, there were no other news reports from the Detroit media and the story of Dobek’s death was mostly forgotten.

Stories have since surfaced that Dobek was incredibly depressed after being fired from his job as vice president of public relations for the Detroit Pistons in April after spending 29 years with the organization.

This is a detail that, when discovered, should be reported, and would be in the case of any high-profile death.

Dobek’s job with the Pistons consisted of acting as a liaison between the media and the team, which led to him developing personal relationships with members of the media.

Be that as it may, the media should not give Dobek special treatment in the reporting of his death.

The news industry is not about sparing feelings or making people feel better, it’s about reporting facts.  The fact was that Matt Dobek hanged himself.

Notwithstanding the ethical violations by the Detroit media, the story again cements the belief that a serious disease such as depression is something that its sufferers should be ashamed of and that it should not be publicly discussed.

Instead of using a tragedy to create some form of good or even to bring in a new audience to the dialogue on depression, the Detroit media decided that the truth hurt too much and just hoped for a while that nobody would notice.

Nobody really ever knows why anyone, including Matt Dobek, commits suicide.

But I do know that Matt Dobek deserved better in death.

 

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  • Really?

    Matt Dobek did not receive “special treatment” from anyone when this news came out. It is pretty typical in most cases that no one mentions suicides.

    To call this a “high profile” case is kind of a stretch to be honest with you. Outside of the people who worked with him or knew that he was a CMU Alum does not mean a majority of the people had a clue who he was.

    What should the media have done? Connected some sort of dots that know one really knows go together? Like you did by stating that he hung himself and then mentioning that he lost his job a few months before hand.

    The funny thing is that you say “Instead of using a tragedy to create some form of good or even to bring in a new audience to the dialogue on depression, the Detroit media decided that the truth hurt too much and just hoped for a while that nobody would notice.”

    Well we're all waiting for your next article that gives advice on depression and how to handle it. So instead of sitting here bashing a media market that I'm sure you'd “die” to work for then I'd leave your opinion in your dorm room from now on.

    PS: There's a reason why newspapers have a Obituary section in them…to let people know that someone passed away.

    And another thing. How many times do you think Matt Dobek knew something that should have been reported differently relating to the Pistons and didn't give the media any or little info? Most likely all the time.

  • Michmediaperson

    Joe, you are wrong.

    For sensitivity issues to his family, the Detroit media did the right thing. It's no one's business because he was in the private sector, not the public sector. He was not on the public payroll.

    “No matter how ugly” huh Joe.

    OK, if that's the ground rules, then why doesn't CM LIFE do an in-depth reporting job about how Detroit declined drastically over the past 45 years and who is responsible. Welfare costs, crooked government officials, high crime including Bing and the old Rev. Jackson who had their SUV's vandalized…..why don't you expose who is at fault no matter how ugly. Then, we can add drugs, illegal aliens, the whole nine yards. Then, blast the left-wing Free Press for covering up the truth why Detroit has declined.

    Exposing that would be far more beneficial to the taxpayers and the public, no matter how ugly it looks, instead of a private matter with a private individual.

    Whenever the national media does a negative story about Detroit, the radical Free-Press goes bunkers. That paper cannot come to grips why Detroit has declined so drastically over the past 45 years. That to me is far more important than the private life of a private individual.

  • gimp1616

    While I can agree that reporting the cause of death is news, the claim that the media ignored it is a bit of a stretch. Type in “Matt Dobek” and this column is the first thing that pops up: http://www.freep.com/article/20100830/COL22/8300373/Matt-Dobek-is-another-tragedy-amid-darkness-of-depression. Three grafs in, Rosenberg states the cause of death. SI, the same thing: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2010/writers/jack_mccallum/08/23/matt.dobek/index.html.
    While not every news org said this, I wouldn't say the detroit media establishment ignored it. Before calling out major media institutions, make sure you check them to see if they've done their job.

  • Housl1mp

    Joe, I commend you for talking about this. While suicide is never something that family and friends want to discuss publicly, and we all have differing opinions on how it should be treated, I think that talking about it may help someone else take an important step to talk to someone about their own feelings of depression or desperation.

    Suicide is a permanent solution to a temporary problem, but I know this is not how the person involved feels at the time. I see this dialogue as an opportunity to bring problems that are often found on college campuses and very often ignored as something taboo.

    Death (including self-inflicted) should not be a taboo subject. We are all going to get there someday – that is about the only sure thing in life. There is hope and there is help for anyone who feels overwhelmed with pressures from school, family and life.

    CMU has excellent counseling services at Foust 102 and I encourage any student who feels there is no other way out to walk in during the M-F 8 a.m. to Noon and 1-5 p.m. hours, or call (989) 774-3381 for an appointment. If you need immediate help, just tell them you need to see someone right away, or if it's after hours, call (989) 774-3081 and CMU Police will help in an emergency.

    MPLichtman, instructor, journalism department