‘Why did you have to write about that?’ Reporting local news is tough when someone you like and respect is arrested

The words on a sign I saw at the Newseum in Washington D.C. years ago will stay with me for the rest of my working life.

News is something that somebody, somewhere wants to suppress.

At no time is this principle more obvious than when a well-known, well-liked, much-respected member of the community gets arrested.

The report of the arrest on Saturday of Riverhead teacher and Jamesport volunteer firefighter Dave McKillop on drunk driving and leaving the scene of an accident charges set off a torrent of criticism by commenters on Facebook.

Yesterday, my husband got a call from an angry fire chief who told him the fire chiefs are mad at us for publishing Dave’s photo with our story. The undercurrent was anger about it being reported at all. “We stand by our man,” he said. (I should point out here that the caller was not a chief of the Jamesport Fire Department. I interviewed Jamesport Chief John Andrejack Sunday morning and reported his comment in my story about the arrest.)

Should we not have reported this arrest?

To recap, a fire chief is arrested on charges of operating a fire department vehicle in an intoxicated condition. It is alleged by police that his vehicle left the roadway on a curve on Main Road in Southold and crashed into a number of road signs, doing “severe” front-end damage to the vehicle. Police said he continued westbound on Main Road. The incident was reported to police by a witness. Police located the chief and arrested him several miles away from the scene of the accident.

The Southold Town Police, as is their practice, issued a press release about the arrest. We reported it. As did every other local and regional news media outlet.

Why? Because it is news.

We don’t suppress news when it reflects badly on someone we like and respect. Ever. Period. End of story.

And please don’t ever ask us to do that, because that will only cause me to lose respect for you. Especially if you’re in a position of authority and really should know better.

We don’t enjoy reporting bad news, though people love to read it.

This doesn’t mean we enjoy reporting bad news. Far from it. I actually cry while writing some stories. This was one of them. Dave McKillop is a great guy. He is a much-beloved teacher. He was my daughters’ much-beloved teacher at Riverhead High School.

I daresay I enjoy reporting these stories a heck of a lot less than people seem to enjoy reading them (at least when it’s not about someone they personally know, like and respect).

Crime news is extremely popular with the masses. It’s actually very aggravating to me as a reporter. I mean, I could work my tail off for weeks researching and reporting on an important topic about something that will affect our community for years to come, or even forever. That kind of story may get 1,000 views. But print a police press release about an arrest, especially an arrest of someone who’s well-known in the community. Boom. 10,000 views.

Why? Why do people love crime and crashes and scandals? I’m not sure. It seems to appeal to some dark side of the human psyche I’d rather not admit to harboring within myself.

But I can tell you I work diligently at not letting my decisions as an editor be affected by that popularity. That means I always examine what we’re posting with a critical eye. I ask myself if we are writing or presenting the report in a sensationalized way, including the headline.

A responsibility we don’t take lightly.

We think long and hard about crime reporting. It is fraught with challenges. For starters, we are by and large at the mercy of police in terms of what information, if any, is provided to us.

Southold police seem to report every arrest with a press release.

Riverhead police rarely send out press releases and the compilation of incident reports they make available to the media is very, very incomplete.

Southampton police seem to report most arrests.

Suffolk County police put out a steady stream of press releases daily.

Suffolk PD and Riverhead (when they issue press releases) provide mug shots. Southampton sometimes does. In Southold, you have to ask.

If Dave McKillop had been arrested in Riverhead Town by Riverhead Police on the same allegations of fact charged in Southold, it’s very likely that the only way the media would have found out about it is if we happened to attend the Sunday morning arraignments in Riverhead Justice Court. Or if someone tipped us off to it. Or, by reading carefully through the court dockets every week, because eventually (on the next court appearance date) the arrest will be noted there.

But since it happened in Southold, the police there sent out a press release around midnight.

Should we publish mug shots?

Was using a photo with this story “sensationalizing”? I don’t think so. Publishing his photo was appropriate, in my view, because he is, in fact, a well-known member of the community and as a fire chief, he’s also a public official.

To be honest, I’m second-guessing myself about whether I didn’t pick up the phone and call Southold PD to ask for the mug shot because of my personal feelings toward this particular defendant. Maybe it was just that I have some high school yearbooks sitting on my shelf and scanning the photo we used was easy. But maybe part of me didn’t even want to see a mug shot of a man I have always held in such high regard. Personally, I cringe at mug shots. Sometimes they make me cry too.

We have more discussions (and debates) in our newsroom about crime reporting than you might imagine. Some part of me would like to do away with it altogether, but that wouldn’t be responsible. We try very hard to report the outcome of cases. I know full well that a criminal charge is an accusation by police. Just because a person is accused of something doesn’t mean he did it. There’s that pesky little presumption of innocence guaranteed by our constitution. Sometimes that seems all but forgotten.

So we comb through the court dockets every week to be sure to make note of dismissals — along with pleas and other results. Case involving felony charges are usually removed to Suffolk County Criminal Court. Unfortunately it’s harder to find out about dismissals in that court. The case will appear online while pending, but once resolved, it disappears.

Should crime reports have an expiration date?

Taking reports down post-publication is something we’ve had a lot of discussion about too. Publishing police reports online can mean a criminal charge — even one that was ultimately dismissed — can haunt a person forever.

I’m reluctant to enter these treacherous waters. If a charge is dismissed, should the record of it be…well…erased? Honestly, I keep going back and forth on that. I’ve had many conversations with young adults seeking the removal of an arrest report. “Google my name and it’s the first thing that comes up.” If a person was charged with — even convicted of — a crime years ago, should that dog him forever? Do I want to be a part of that sort of digital persecution?

Recently, the Riverhead Anti-Bias Task Force asked to meet with local media to discuss our handling of crime reports. Some of that group’s members don’t think we should report criminal charges at all, only convictions. Crime reporting reinforces racial and ethnic bias, they told me.

Just as I understand people for wanting to protect people they care about, I also understand the point of the task force members who SAY our crime reporting is reinforcing some people’s prejudices. But the answer is still the same.

It’s still news.

And news is and always will be something that somebody, somewhere doesn’t want you to report.

Denise Civiletti is an owner of East End Local Media Corp., publisher of RiverheadLOCAL. and SoutholdLOCAL. An award-winning reporter, including a “Writer of the Year” award from the N.Y. Press Association, she is an attorney and former Riverhead Town councilwoman (1988-1991). She lives in Riverhead with her husband and business partner, Peter Blasl. The views expressed in her column are hers alone. Send Denise an email.