Wow, the Journal ran a story about a woman who is 29 with 10 children who needs a car. I'm not going to pile on any more than the many commenters did, but there were a number of obvious questions left unanswered in the original story that prompted the nasty reaction of many readers.
This woman and her family clearly need help, but a news story should answer the questions that are so blatantly obvious and which were either not asked or not published in this case.
Here's the link:
http://www.mlive.com/flintjournal/index.ssf/2008/11/flint_mother_latrica_ryan_of_1.html#comments
(Note: I don't want to turn this into another thread on this woman and her dilemma, so I won't put up comments on her situation. But if someone wants to comment on the obvious holes in the story or the nature and tone of the comments, feel free. I find it interesting that readers raised the obvious questions that were left out of the original story. This note was added December 2)
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5 comments:
Sounds like this is The Journal's answer to the tired old "helping hands during the holidays" story. Unfortunately, this woman's situation is so extreme and unsympathetic that it's likely to have the opposite effect. I also think this charity will face some backlash.
At the very least, the reporter should have called the state to get its general policy on pursuing fathers, even if it couldn't comment on specifics due to privacy. Also, under welfare reform, aren't there rules that cap benefits after a certain number of years if the parent does not attend school or accept a job?
The reporter also should have inquired about how much state assistance a single parent with 10 children receives per month -- after all, it is the taxpayers' money.
I don't want to be a Journal basher, but has anyone else noticed the lapse in quality since what appears to be newer reporters are on the job?
I don't know when this writer came to Flint, but her stories are riddled with factual and grammatical errors constantly.
What a disservice to the charity and the community, not to mention the mother. To think you're having a story done about you to get help and instead you get 150 comments about what a horrible person you are. There are no less than 50 comments calling her a whore. (And by the way, Jim, the comments are still going -- we're up to 158 today.)
On stories at the NYTimes and other sites, they close comments once the point has been made. I wonder how long this bashing will continue.
"We here at The Flint Journal have had to remove many inappropriate comments being submitted about this story.
Our internet team has decided that no future comments will be accepted on this article."
Nearly 150 disturbing comments later...
And now a John Foren jumps into the fray:
http://www.mlive.com/flintjournal/voices/index.ssf/2008/12/leap_of_faith_essential_to_hel.html
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