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Kathleen Rutledge: Abandoned baby story outrages some readers

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Sunday, Jul 22, 2007 - 12:07:48 am CDT

People are talking about a 21-year-old woman who abandoned her newborn baby at Saint Elizabeth Regional Medical Center.

Several are outraged — about the front-page story and photo of the woman that ran in the Journal Star.

What were we thinking?

Story Photo

Diane Schroeder of Ulysses called to say we were cruel.

The story needed to be told, she said, but we didn’t need to include the woman’s name and address, nor did we need to put her high school yearbook photo on the front page. She found the tone of the story to be righteous and mean-spirited.

“I just think it was wrong to expose this little girl. She tried hard to provide a safe place for that baby,” Schroeder said.

Schroeder saw other examples of parental neglect when she worked on an obstetrics ward years ago.

“I dare you to start writing articles about the number of men who have abandoned their babies,” she said.

I appreciate hearing from Diane Schroeder and other readers. Their heartfelt comments spur me to explain what we were thinking when we did this story.

We think it’s news when a woman abandons her newborn baby at a hospital.

Our first report said police were looking for the mother. Then we began to explore other angles: How often do pregnant women check into hospitals under fake names? Would things be different if senators had passed a “safe haven” law that has been proposed?

Police found and cited the woman on suspicion of misdemeanor child neglect and abandonment. We reported that on JournalStar.com.

The hospital held a press conference featuring another mother, one who was happy to take her newborn home.

The Journal Star reporter and his editors discussed whether to include the other mother in the story. It could have gone either way. They decided on a storytelling approach, rather than a straight-news approach, because the ticketing would be “old news” to many readers.

It’s routine for the Journal Star to include addresses when writing about people ticketed for crimes. It helps cut confusion about other people with the same or similar names. It’s also common for us to publish photos of people suspected of crimes. Perhaps in this sensitive case we should have talked more about these elements.

Overall, though, the journalists who worked on this story were trying to do the right thing. They were giving the community accurate information about an important matter — the abandonment of a newborn baby. They did their best to report this story ethically and to be humane while telling a hard story.

That said, I appreciate those readers who have written or called me about this story. I appreciate those who have written letters to the editor, some of which we’re publishing today. It helps us make better judgments about news coverage when we know what readers think.

Kathleen Rutledge is the editor of the Lincoln Journal Star. Call her at (402) 473-7334 or e-mail her at krutledge@journalstar.com.


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Ulysses supporter wrote on July 22, 2007 6:48 am:
" Stories like the woman who abandoned her baby should be told but her name and address weren't THAT necessary to the telling of it. Guess what LJS? By not runniing her name, you wouldn't have had to worry about a name mix up. I was also appalled when LJS ran the photo and name of the boy that was playing basketball late at night & disappeared until the next day. Was running HIS photo and mentioning his name that important? This boy was a minor and hadn't even been charged with anything! Yeah, news did need to be reported. I don't think anyone would disagree with that. But running their names, photos and addresses in sensitive matters like these is cruel. I just think LJS needs to use a little bit more common sense and discretion. "

 Wm. Morris wrote on July 22, 2007 8:38 am:
" Sound like this is the editorial attitude that is more interested in yellow journalism rather than valid reporting of the news. If this had been a young woman in the Seacrest family, for instance, would the same kind of information have been released? I doubt that. Ms. Rutledge's attempts to rationalize the behavior of this paper is shameful. And, I believe it is the final straw in the down slide of the Journal Star's reporting that will be causing us to cancel our subscription. You can expect that call tomorrow. "

 good that you're addressing this wrote on July 22, 2007 9:07 am:
" There was an element of callousness in the naming and picturing of the mother that felt like it crossed the line into a desire to place her in the public square for public scorn, ridicule, and humiliation. Some people have responded to the story with the question, "How could a mother abandon her baby?" Well, the incredulity of the question suggests its own answer -- probably with extreme difficulty. Whatever was going on in her life, or within her own psyche, was so powerful that it moved her to take the action that to many seems unthinkable. I really wish, as a community, we could be supportive of people who find themselves in the midst of such struggles. Instead, the Journal-Star's actions made it feel like we're in a community that finds some perverse satisfaction in beating such people when they're down. I do very much hope that the aftermath of this incident will mean a more thoughtful approach by LJS in the future, but for now my heart goes out to the woman who, instead of receiving the support of her community when she likely felt she needed it most, probably is now trying to figure out a way to move someplace else. That's really tragic. "

 MOM wrote on July 22, 2007 9:47 am:
" Sounds like a lot of excuses for a so called "great news story". It took alot of courage for this girl to leave her baby and you took the story and ran. So much research went in to finding the HS picture. What fun it must have been for the reporter to do some gossiping instead of some real reporting. Shame on you. "

 Praise for LJS wrote on July 22, 2007 10:14 am:
" Yes, we as a community should be supportive of this woman who felt the need to abandon her baby. Obviously, she did not feel the support of the good people of Nebraska long before this story was printed. Yes, she probably is looking for a new home after reading the mean-spirited posts of the last two days. Nebraskans enjoy taking the high moral ground, but only when it’s convenient. "

 So how... wrote on July 22, 2007 10:19 am:
" is she possibly going to get a fair trial now since you've leaked her name? Geesh, while we're at it, let's just release names of rape victims and their addresses before their cases have gone to trial and their cases are judged before a jury of their fellow peers. What you did LJS was wrong in printing her name and address. No one can truly ever know why the woman did what she did other than her and God, and for you to try and go in thinking you can even begin to unravel the mystery is a joke. It's a good heartbreaking story, but LJS could have done a better job in telling it without the public knowing such damaging information. Accountability in this day and age is dead, all we want to resort to is using scapegoats to jusitfy our actions. I hope you can live with the black eyes you've given LJS. "

 unsafe at any speed wrote on July 22, 2007 3:07 pm:
" I appreciate Ms. Rutledge's quiet and fairly balanced examination of the issues, but when hurtful errors are made at such a potentially huge cost to involved parties a more gracious and open apology is probably due. Myself, I cringe at such heartless invasion of priavcy. Maybe the LJS needs an ethics consultant? You should always be aware of any unjust harms published stories might cause. "

 Double standard wrote on July 22, 2007 6:31 pm:
" I find the inconsistency with which two stories have been treated. The name of the soccer mom who left her daughter by the road has been left out of articles regarding that incident while the name of the young woman who left her child at the hospital was published. A troubling double standard. "

 GMP wrote on July 23, 2007 10:22 am:
" The only good thing that I can see that has come out of all of this, is that I hope the young woman involved can see that MOST of Lincoln/Nebraska feels respect for her, and supports her. "

 Mike Honcho wrote on July 23, 2007 12:12 pm:
" This comment left me scratching my head...hard. "It took alot of courage for this girl to leave her baby..." What? The operative word in that sentence is the word "courage", defined as "a quality of spirit that enables you to face danger or pain without showing fear". It was fear that drove her to leave the baby...the courageous thing to do would be to keep it and try to raise it. Now, in NO way am I saying what she did was cowardly. Given the fact that she didn't want the baby...you might say this was the responsible thing to do for the baby's sake. But courageous? Hardly. "

 Joke wrote on July 24, 2007 12:39 pm:
" I'm with the crowd. Using the name and address of the woman was unnecessary either for storytelling or for news. I suggest the LJS begin using the name "Paris Hilton" or other celebrity names whenever they're talking about local people who "done wrong" but whose names aren't necessary to the story. Might as well get some 'tainment with our info. "

 kristine wrote on July 25, 2007 9:33 am:
" I have to say that I do feel compassion for this young lady, but not respect. "

 same ole same ole wrote on July 25, 2007 10:10 pm:
" LJS has a track record of not making good choices when it comes to publishing private citizen names and addresses in spite of the fact they may be placing that individual in harms way. A number of years ago they did a human interest story on a young woman who was developmentally challenged by not only publishing her name and address but announcing to the entire world that she lived alone with her dog. So the fact that they felt the need to publicly shame this young woman by publishing her name is not surprizing. So sad they seem to be too caught up in "telling a story" to recognize this is a young woman who while not all agree with her leaving her baby did make certain her baby was safe. LJS continues to be irresponsible with their choices of what they publish at the price of another citizen who is vulnerable. My heart goes out to this young woman. "

 make it right. wrote on July 26, 2007 5:01 pm:
" Ms. Rutledge, I do believe LJS owes that poor girl a public apology preferrably printed on the front page, with the reporter and editor's photos and home addresses listed. I think that will make the situation more fair, if that's at all possible. "

 JMA wrote on August 30, 2007 12:14 pm:
" Here's my $0.02, even if they're late. What's so horrible about a woman giving birth to an unwanted child, and then leaving that child in a safe place? Would you prefer she had thrown that baby in a dumpster? Maybe that would have made a better story for you to print. I think she did the right thing. It may not have been a 'brave' thing, but I'm glad that woman was able to realize that she could not be a good mother to that baby. It should not be a crime to leave a baby at a hospital. Look around, and you'll see examples everywhere of parents who are raising unwanted children, and are abusive, or at least let those kids know they're unwanted. I'm ashamed of you for printing the woman's name, address and photo. Very unprofessional of you. This is not the 1600's; you should be reporting news in a straightforward manner, instead of publicly condemning her actions. "

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