Saturday, April 18, 2009

Our mission | Why we afflict the comfortable

"I just stumbled across your blog recently,
and felt I should let you know the articles still carry weight in Idaho."

-- a Sebree family member, telling me last spring that Idaho officials denied parole to convicted murderer Steve Waddell. They had returned him to the state pen, after I reported he was going mostly unpunished for stabbing to death 17-year-old Michelle Sebree.

(Early 20th century American author Finley Peter Dunne is credited with the famous expression: "The business of a newspaper is to comfort the afflicted, and afflict the comfortable.")

4 comments:

  1. It is nice to hear from people you have written about over the years, especially if you have been able to help someone or bring something to light.
    I've often thought of a journalist's work being written in the sand of a long, smooth beach. There for everyone to see, but gone forever when flooded by the oncoming tide.
    To have one of our stories live longer is a treasure.

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  2. I will treasure that Sebree family note for the rest of my life.

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  3. Very cool, Jim. Congrats.

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  4. he was denied again this morning. may he rot in. prison

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Jim says: "Proceed with caution; this is a free-for-all comment zone. I try to correct or clarify incorrect information. But I can't catch everything. Please keep your posts focused on Gannett and media-related subjects. Note that I occasionally review comments in advance, to reject inappropriate ones. And I ignore hostile posters, and recommend you do, too."

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