Blog Editor's Note: Friday's edition (Aug. 24) of your Payson Roundup contained an article about Editor Pete Aleshire spending the night in jail after being stopped for "a rolling stop at a red light" (better known as running a red light). Seems the Editor's driver's license had been suspended after a warrant for his arrest was issued when he failed to appear in court on another matter. Of course the Editor "never received a notice of the action in the mail."
It wasn't long before a friend handed me a copy of the article in Friday's Roundup headlined "Aleshire arrested." We joked about reprinting it on the Blog just as it appeared - with proper attribution, of course.
But once I had given it some sober thought, I realized there is a serious overriding moral to this story, to wit:
The Roundup thrives on printing police and court reports detailing the misfortunes of others, often before they have had their respective days in court. While its lower class readers love it, many innocent victims have complained and threatened to sue the paper.
So when it happened to their own Editor, the Roundup had no choice but to run the story - albeit with the edges softened to make Aleshire seem more of a victim than a perpetrator. To do less would leave them wide open to charges of hypocrisy.
The moral of the story "Aleshire arrested": Maybe the Roundup
should stop preying on the misfortunes of others because it appeals to a
prurient element among its readership. Because, to quote from the
classic movie "Jaws," you never know when something could "swim up and
bite you on the ass."
Aleshire's dustup didn't deserve the space it took, but the Roundup had no choice.
Jim Keyworth
Blog Editor
4 comments:
As one of the victims of the Roundup's policy of printing the names of people arrested before they are judged guilty, let me say, "Amen, brother." And to Aleshire: "People who live in glass houses..."
Isn't it interesting:
When the Roundup wins an award, no matter how insignificant, it goes on the front page.
When the Roundup editor spends a night in the hoosegow, it's buried inside the paper.
Isn't it interesting:
When the Roundup wins an award, no matter how insignificant, it goes on the front page.
When the Roundup Editor spends a night in the hoosegow, it's buried inside the paper.
Most interesting is the fact that the Roundup removed the story of the arrest from the online site. Why? So it would never come back and bite him in the buttocks. Also note that the Roundup did not publish his name in the police report section that they put in the paper. Why? Because they can choose to leave others in and take their own names out. Hypocrisy? Maybe just a case of accidental overlook? Right! Total bs and the Roundup should post all names or no names.
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