Free Advice on How Not to Be Embarrassed

Somewhere is the faded past of community journalism, exactly where I do not know, there was a wise editor. No doubt, that dutiful member of the community had been the focus of many nasty telephone calls and personal confrontations about some article that was contained within the columns of his (or her) newspaper.
Weary of all the rhetoric, words appeared, as if from a prophet of old: “If you don’t want to read about it in the newspaper, don’t let it happen.”
These words have become, to me, almost like the placard on President Harry Truman’s desk, “The Buck Stops Here.”
Decades ago, Marion K. Smith, Middle Township High School business teacher and faculty adviser of the school’s publication “Hi Middler,” presided over fledgling reporters and photographers.
Her late husband, Burton Smith, had been the owner of the well-respected Cape May County Gazette. After his passing, she had carried on the proud tradition of the local newspaper in the county seat, located in the building presently occupied by the Press of Atlantic City.
She instilled what I consider one of the seeds that have carried me over the years in this profession of community journalism.
Other people mentored and nurtured me along the path that brought me to the present place I hold at the Herald.
It may be an understatement to proclaim some were “true characters,” but each left their mark on me.
Days evolved into weeks, weeks melted into years, years merged into decades. Regardless of the passage of time, one fact has remained as true today as the day I first entered the institution of weekly newspapers: The printed word makes people squirm.
People may make statements at a public meeting, rambling on endlessly. Then, once those words are immortalized in a news story, they may try to deny saying them.
They will call the editor (remember, it’s an office held, not a personal thing), and they proclaim boldly they never said such a thing. Well, friend, “If you don’t want to read about it in the newspaper, don’t let it happen.”
With the advent of better police press releases, the angst of the accused often bleeds over to my ear.
Those found in possession of illicit drugs, or who drove under the influence of alcohol or drugs, who broke into a store or home and stole something, then, whose good names were then besmirched in the columns of the publication may call and demand to know, “Who gave you the right to print my name?”
They may even ask, demand might be a stronger term, why no one from the newspaper called to ask their side of the story before being tried in the court of public opinion.
The answer, always the same, is that police reports are issued only after an arrest has been made, we do not call the accused for comment, since all would profess innocence. Then, I tell them, once the matter has been adjudicated in the court, let us know the outcome and we will be more than willing to print the fact they were found innocent of the charges.
In my 34 years, in the business, that may have happened once, maybe twice.
“If you don’t want to read about it in the newspaper, don’t let it happen.”
I never cease to find it interesting that some who, on reading about their escapades in the columns of the newspaper, will call to threaten that they know somebody who advertises in the publication, and that they will “fix our wagons” for printing “such trash,” and have the advertising pulled.
Do you know how many times I have heard that one? Right, about as many times as a police officer has stopped a motorist for speeding, only to be told “I never go over the speed limit.”
“If you don’t want to read about it in the newspaper, don’t let it happen.”
What most amazes us here at the Herald, and doubtless in other newsrooms around the nation, is that human nature never seems to learn from the past.
Robbers steal, and never expect to be caught. When they do, they profess innocence.
People drink like fish, then drive and kill and maim others, then cannot understand why it happened to them, and that their names are now among those printed in the paper.
Still others fight and harass their kin and neighbors, and wonder why their names are included in the printed edition or on the Internet.
Dare I state, news reporters, police, and corrections officers really do share some common bond. We will never, ever, be found wanting for work or things to report, because humans just cannot seem to learn right from wrong. Many adults are just overgrown children who never learned their lessons well.
The next time you are about to drink and drive. The next time you want something from a store and don’t want to pay for it. The next time you think you can take the law into your own hands. When you want to make some quick cash selling dope to a kid down the street, bear in mind, the printed word never fades.
“If you don’t want to read about it in the newspaper, don’t let it happen.”