The Past Is In The Past

Two weeks ago, the Times ran its weekly Pioneer Portraits column as it has for many years. For the second time since the newspaper changed hands in late 2009, it prompted a letter to the editor, which we have published on this page.

The letter from Kate Reeve objects to rehashing local residents' past offenses, particularly for those who have since bettered their lives and become contributors to the community. She also asks for the same exception for those who have since passed away.

Before we get into our response to the letter, it's worth explaining how Pioneer Portraits is compiled. Each week, our staff goes through old volumes of the Times and selects the most prominent stories of the editions from the weeks 10 years ago, 25 years ago, 50 years ago and so on. The selection is somewhat subjective, but our inclination veers toward the biggest stories of the week based on the headlines and news worthiness.

For example, 10 years from now, the biggest stories remembered in our issue from last week might be the ones about suspected burglar/squatter Daniel Baxter, Waitsburg's first Blue Star Service Banners and the planned groundbreaking for the new Best Western in Dayton.

But after a staff meeting earlier this week, the newspaper has decided on a new policy. Thanks in part to Reeve's letter and past feedback to our Pioneer Portraits, we have decided to let bygones be bygones when it comes past individual offenses. In a nutshell, we wholeheartedly agree with Reeve's observation that everyone deserves a second chance.

The individuals mentioned in the two Pioneer Portraits items that drew the feedback turned their lives around after first getting sideways with the law and serving time. There may have been others whose names we have published in the past by simply drawing from the headlines without first checking what has since happened in their lives.

As Reeve and others have pointed out this is insensitive and should be avoided.

The first individual we mentioned in the column almost two years ago was arrested for drug offenses, but turned out to be a model prisoner, became a volunteer in the community and is now the proud father of a teenage son who's about to graduate.

The second individual, also arrested for drug offenses, has since passed away to the regret of many in the community, where he was a successful small-scale farmer.

Upon reflection, we believe it's better to stop regurgitating these old news stories regardless of whether we have knowledge of such lives turned around or not. Unless the individuals are known as current repeat offenders, we'll give them the benefit of the doubt from now on.

That's not to say we intend to sugarcoat the past. Our philosophy regarding the past and the present is that news is news, whether it's good, bad or indifferent. In our opinion, readers have just as much right to know about a high school football team winning their state championship game as they do about a homicide and we cover both with the same professional attention.

That said, there are subjects we choose to treat with sensitivity. You'll never see a name of an accident victim in print, even if these wounds or loss of life are self-inflicted. We're careful not to publish the names of juvenile offenders for the same reason we have now decided to leave out past offenders from the items in Pioneer Portraits: everyone has agreed kids and young adults make mistakes.

As long as they learn from their mistakes and use what they have experienced as a tool to improve their lives, they ought to get another shot at a clean record, including what's printed about them in the newspaper.