But despite getting one thing right, there were some more horrible journalistic decisions made on Wednesday.
In the story on the accident, writer Drew Stone was apparently having trouble getting some information.
Monday evening, HNHS Athletic Director Michael Gasaway said he was told Krueger was losing consciousness after the crash.
“I heard she’s been in and out of consciousness,” Gasaway said. “It’s an unfortunate situation.”
Sure, you've gotten someone to comment on the the crash, but you've got one person relaying what he heard from other unnamed person who may or may not have heard something about what may or may not be true.
Not exactly the best way to get information.
This comes after a recent Herald-Press editorial that said the paper is not in the business of reporting on rumors.
Technically this isn't a rumor. But exactly, it is hearsay, which is just as bad.
There were some details of the accident from a police report, but then there were some strange additions, which aren't reported on police write-ups.
Krueger reportedly suffered severe bleeding from the accident but was wearing a seat belt and was not ejected. Butts was reported to be in fair condition but complained of body aches after the crash.Using the word "reportedly" means it must have come from some kind of report. Whose report? You would think a medical condition would come from an official medical report. Maybe those who reportedly said the girl suffered severe bleeding came from the same person who "reported" information to Michael Gasaway.
In any case, even if Michael Gasaway HAD reliable information, passing it on to someone else is a violation of HIPAA regulations. That information can only be released by a health care provider once the patient has given an OK to do so.
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One of our alert readers brought another story from Wednesday to our attention.
Our poster writes:
"On the right side column is a piece of work he should be terminated for. In a story regarding a man sentenced for sexual misconduct with a 15 year old girl he begins the story with this description of the one-time event which resulted in a pregnancy and his conviction:"
A Huntington man was sentenced Monday to two years in prison for having an affair with a 15-year-old girl, which resulted in a child.
Not to get into any kind of legal semantics, by definition, sex with a minor is rape.
In any case, it's not an "affair."
This goes beyond just being a misuse of a word. It's a horrible, horrible transgression. If Drew Stone isn't experienced enough to know what he's writing about, Editor Rebecca Sandlin certainly should have caught that. Unless, of course, she's not editing.
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There was another story this week that was completely whiffed by the Herald-Press.
At Monday's school board meeting, it was announced that a new tech program was approved for Huntington North High School. This is becoming a popular program at many schools. It was reported by the Fort Wayne television stations and newspapers, as well as the Huntington County TAB.
Even given the H-P's early deadlines, there still should have been a story in Wednesday's paper.
Nada.
But they did have the perfect school attendances and the local bridge scores.
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Continuing to follow up on the fire department situation, the Herald-Press missed on which fire station is slated to be closed.
Despite correct reports in the TAB, the Fort Wayne papers and on television, as well as on this space, the Herald-Press stck with its incorrect report.
No word on if they're following up with a correction.
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Speaking of corrections, we should report that one of the people who commented on an earlier post had mentioned that photographer Rob Edwards had been let go. That apparently is not the case, at least for now.
While we did not originate the comment, Herald-Press Watch regrets the error and we have removed the comment.
OK, that's one thing we've gotten wrong.
Everything else is correct. Which is really sad.
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