Lawsuit Clarification
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
By -
This is a personal response to Sue Gooding that I hope will be publicly edifying.
On July 11 you submitted a well-written letter to the editor that was committed to making a case for the newsworthiness of lawsuits. I agree completely. Your letter was written as a counter to my own letter on the 2nd suggesting that I had said the opposite, which tells me that the point of my letter was likely skewed by the heading that was given to it by the paper. “Law Suit is not News” is not what I submitted as a subject title, and misses the intent which, I think, is worth another letter to clarify.
Let me step away from the Miller case and address a bigger picture. My point was that any story that is newsworthy, including a lawsuit, is most worthy when the story is complete, not one sided, and not peppered with charges that have not yet had their day in court. I understand, well, that the nature of news reporting is to get the bad news in print before editing has time to discover that it is not as bad as it may look initially. Generally speaking, the “alleged” news is often more interesting, detailed, and tabloid, in nature, than the eventual proven reality, which is good for readership, but not for the “alleged” criminal.
Case in point: On April 7, Scott Koontz, who is blessed with excellent parents that I know and respect, found his picture on the front page of the Times-Union, along with the story of his alleged crime – stabbing another boy in the neck several times. All the facts proved accurate except for the identity of the boy doing the stabbing. It was not Scott, and he was released from jail 10 days after his arrest. Although this was a redemptive conclusion to the April 7 story, at least for Scott, this end of the story did not make the paper, much less the front page.
Charges and allegations can inflict a good deal of reputational harm when it’s found on the front page of the local paper before it finds a verdict. I am not challenging the subject matter of the report as much as the timing. That is the point of my letter. In the Miller suit there are wrongs that need to be righted and accountability and appropriate consequences established. Who would deny that? The one critical reminder I would add is that justice, apart from personal reconciliation, is hollow. The latter has eternal significance and has to be integrated into the overall goal and objective. You say that you “can’t imagine that Dr. Miller did not pursue other avenues before taking this public step.” The foremost avenue for maximizing justice, reconciliation and restoration is laid out for us in I Corinthians 6: 1-7 … a good reminder for us all. Was this avenue offered to Brent? I believe not. Even so, the three above objectives are still achievable.
Ron Ogden
Winona Lake
Editor’s Note: A story referencing Scott Koontz, 20, Syracuse, appeared the April 9 edition of the Times-Union. He was arrested following a stabbing incident near Papakeechie Lake. He has since posted bond and is scheduled for a pre-trial conference Sept. 17. His jury trial is set for Nov. 7. He is charged with battery by means of a deadly weapon in connection with the stabbing.[[In-content Ad]]
This is a personal response to Sue Gooding that I hope will be publicly edifying.
On July 11 you submitted a well-written letter to the editor that was committed to making a case for the newsworthiness of lawsuits. I agree completely. Your letter was written as a counter to my own letter on the 2nd suggesting that I had said the opposite, which tells me that the point of my letter was likely skewed by the heading that was given to it by the paper. “Law Suit is not News” is not what I submitted as a subject title, and misses the intent which, I think, is worth another letter to clarify.
Let me step away from the Miller case and address a bigger picture. My point was that any story that is newsworthy, including a lawsuit, is most worthy when the story is complete, not one sided, and not peppered with charges that have not yet had their day in court. I understand, well, that the nature of news reporting is to get the bad news in print before editing has time to discover that it is not as bad as it may look initially. Generally speaking, the “alleged” news is often more interesting, detailed, and tabloid, in nature, than the eventual proven reality, which is good for readership, but not for the “alleged” criminal.
Case in point: On April 7, Scott Koontz, who is blessed with excellent parents that I know and respect, found his picture on the front page of the Times-Union, along with the story of his alleged crime – stabbing another boy in the neck several times. All the facts proved accurate except for the identity of the boy doing the stabbing. It was not Scott, and he was released from jail 10 days after his arrest. Although this was a redemptive conclusion to the April 7 story, at least for Scott, this end of the story did not make the paper, much less the front page.
Charges and allegations can inflict a good deal of reputational harm when it’s found on the front page of the local paper before it finds a verdict. I am not challenging the subject matter of the report as much as the timing. That is the point of my letter. In the Miller suit there are wrongs that need to be righted and accountability and appropriate consequences established. Who would deny that? The one critical reminder I would add is that justice, apart from personal reconciliation, is hollow. The latter has eternal significance and has to be integrated into the overall goal and objective. You say that you “can’t imagine that Dr. Miller did not pursue other avenues before taking this public step.” The foremost avenue for maximizing justice, reconciliation and restoration is laid out for us in I Corinthians 6: 1-7 … a good reminder for us all. Was this avenue offered to Brent? I believe not. Even so, the three above objectives are still achievable.
Ron Ogden
Winona Lake
Editor’s Note: A story referencing Scott Koontz, 20, Syracuse, appeared the April 9 edition of the Times-Union. He was arrested following a stabbing incident near Papakeechie Lake. He has since posted bond and is scheduled for a pre-trial conference Sept. 17. His jury trial is set for Nov. 7. He is charged with battery by means of a deadly weapon in connection with the stabbing.[[In-content Ad]]
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