Last night, another sports editor and I broke a story about a student death, and now I feel sick. We were all ravenous to break the news, but in doing so, did we cross limits? I think so.
It was so surreal to see the body bag being wheeled out on the street. A student -- it could have been someone I lived with -- died. At the same time, we heard a rumor about it being a student on the wrestling team. I knew who to call, and sure enough I did, and we recieved a vague and brief statement. It was something I shouldn't have done.
It didn't seem to corroborate anything. It wasn't pertinent to the story. Someone had died -- we confirmed that -- they were a student -- we confirmed that. That's it. From a news standpoint, we have a who, when, where, and how. Why will come in time. A definitive who is not necessary.
But apparently it is to some. After a heated debate, sports left. We left the newsroom. Without us, we would have woken up tomorrow to a university alert. We broke the story, and now the news department has very possibly broken our trust. Our section has a great relationship with C.U. athletes. Well, atleast we did...
Tomorrow may bring a different story.
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