McCaw's paper sinks even lower
Well, you can tell the
Santa Barbara News-Press is hurting in the editing department these days. Check out this
lousy headline trumpeting a story that ran Sunday online (and, I presume, in the print edition, too):
"News-Press seeks exam of computer used by ex-editor Roberts containing child porn"
Does that computer contain child porn, or does ex-editor Jerry Roberts contain the kiddie smut?
Did News-Press publisher Wendy McCaw write this headline and the shameful story appearing below it?
Just asking.
The headline is bad, and the reporting appears to be even worse.
In a nutshell, the N-P announced a computer Roberts used was riddled with thousands of child-porn images. A firm the paper hired found the disgusting pictures while trying to recover digital files deleted after Roberts and more than a dozen other staffers walked off their jobs because of various ethical breaches.
Prosecutors have concluded it's impossible to determine who put the images on the machine and when they were put there. Apparently, the paper bought the computer used -- and the machine also passed through several hands before it landed on Roberts' desk.
With that much uncertainty in play, why mention Roberts specifically (word of the
"Minimize Harm" directive in SPJ's ethics code apparently hasn't reached the N-P)? Certainly, that stupid decision couldn't have anything to do with the ludicrous
$25 million arbitration suit McCaw's company has filed against Roberts.
The story appeared without a byline (cowards!), and Roberts said he wasn't asked for comment before it was published. He's planning to file suit against the paper -- and who can blame him?