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September 30, 2005
Coming Sunday
I recently had a call from Beverly Leo, who for many years was a member of the Monitor’s board of contributors. As executive director of the Concord SPCA, Beverly wrote for our opinion pages about issues and legislative bills concerning animals. She once allowed our news staff to cover the putting down of a dog, including a photo sequence of the sad event.
Beverly, who retired several years ago, was calling to ask what I thought about the possibility of our covering her dying and death. She suffers from a rare lung disease and has beaten the odds she was given at diagnosis, but she is nearing death now.
I had to think about it. Nearly two years ago, Allison Steele of our staff chronicled a man’s death and its impact on his widow. They were a wonderful couple, and Allison wrote beautifully about them.
How would this story be different? What would readers glean from it that they hadn’t read in the earlier stories? The answer, of course, started with Beverly Leo herself. An articulate woman well known to our community is facing death. Through her experience, we hope to inform readers about medical decision-making and care-giving and to share with them the thoughts and emotions of Beverly and her family.
Reporter Joelle Farrell and photographer Lori Duff will have the first installment of Beverly’s story in the Sunday Monitor.
* * *
During the recent trial of a magazine salesman accused of raping a local woman, there was a quiet buzz of complaint about our coverage. It was too graphic, some readers said. It was too prominently played. It favored the accused.
There’s nothing easy about covering a case like this or deciding which details to include and which to omit. The first and by far most important decisions belong to the reporter, in this case Annmarie Timmins.
One challenge is how to tell readers enough so that they get an accurate account of the court proceedings without publishing details that would offend a wide swath of our readership. Another is to represent both sides fairly in what we choose to print.
On Sunday’s Viewpoints page, Timmins explains how she approached these challenges in the trial of Joseph Hannify.
Posted by Mike Pride at September 30, 2005 03:50 PM
Comments
I am Beverly Leo's sister who resides in Colorado. She has told me about the series you are doing on her and she is very excited about the benefit this series of articles will generate.
Bev has always been an upbeat, "make the best of it" type person and I'm strengthened by the strength she is now showing. As she told me recently about the three major "events" she's facing (nursing home, Hospice care, memorial service) ..."the third one is going to be a fantastic party! Of course I won't be there to enjoy it."
I'm looking forward to reading the first installment on my computer come Monday morning.
Thank you for caring and sharing.
Susan Spiller Frindt
Posted by: Susan Spiller Frindt at October 1, 2005 08:09 PM
I worked with Bev at the SPCA for four years I love her and am going to miss her. I would love to have a picture of her the way I remember her in 1982. would someone send me one on E MAIL ?Thanx TERRY
Posted by: Terry COCHRAN at November 16, 2005 05:05 PM