Rumors have no place in coverage of tragedy
Multiple large blue tarps billowed in the wind as they concealed the recovery of Michael Hartnett’s body from the pond near Park Library.
The normally serene Fabiano Botanical Gardens was alive with activity on a Sunday evening as the tragedy unfolded. And on social media, a storm was raging.
As law enforcement continued to work to confirm Hartnett as the person pulled from the water, a missing person alert for the 18-year-old from Dearborn Heights circulated on the Internet, leading to the spread of gossip on Twitter and Facebook.
Media outlets throughout clamored to respond to the chatter. Established papers fell to impatience and began to connect the two cases ahead of police confirmation.
While stories began to trickle into the news cycle, the backlash was almost immediate. Readers critical of the initial, open-ended police reports lashed out at reporters they felt could have gotten more.
All working journalists at the scene knew it would be a wait before the hypothetical could be credibly reported as facts.
Journalism is a process. One that is difficult and complicated. The answers to questions posed by our readers do not lie before us; they must be uncovered.
Despite whatever possible explanations, or guesses, made it onto the web, Central Michigan Life was patient.
We waited hours for the body to be identified. We waited for the family to be notified. We waited for police to confirm everyone’s worst fear.
And we know we were right.
When tragedy befalls our university community, anxiety boils. Students, alumni and all residents are taken by the coverage and conversation, and are desperate to know what shape the horrors have taken.
As proud students and residents of our university, we must remember to stay strong, and be patient. As journalists we will not allow our innate curiosity to undermine our humanity.
Respect must be paramount for the victim, the family and for all the people who knew and loved this person. They deserve our sympathy, not a confusing mist of 140-word chaos.
We also owe our readers something: the best most complete story we can create.
So we will wait. We will wait for the facts, and wait for the most complete version of the truth. So Readers must be patient, too.
