Hindsight is 20/20, they say, and with its benefit we can all identify many decisions that we might have made differently.
How I handled the story of Lance Corporal Jeremy L. Tinnel’s death in Iraq is a case in point.
I learned the news from a Department of Defense press release on July 5, and placed it on our Web site immediately. Then, in our first print edition after the event, I placed Tinnel’s photo on the front, but ran the story inside, choosing to run the weekend’s Tomato Festival on the front page.
That decision has prompted much heartfelt criticism (see letter on this page).
One factor I considered is that the article had previously run July 6 on page one of the Richmond Times-Dispatch, and we had no new information to add to it.
Nevertheless, with the benefit of hindsight, and despite the fact that it was no longer a breaking story, I now think we would have better served our readers had I placed it on page one. Previous stories on county servicemen who died in combat zones ran there; this one deserved to be there also.
Every decision as to where to place stories is based on a number of factors, some of which I have mentioned above. If my judgment is sometimes not quite on the mark, I accept the criticism and respect the views of those who question it.
Above all, I would like to emphasize that in no way was the placement of the story of Lance Corporal Tinnel’s death meant to belittle his sacrifice for his country, and the Mechanicsville Local would like to take this opportunity to extend our sincere condolences to his family and friends.
