Sounding Board -- JOSEPH E. MCKEEVER

I am writing in reference to the May 2 article titled “2 Violent

Fights Injure 3 Students.” Both the sensational headline and the lack of

factual substance in the article were totally inappropriate. It is

painfully obvious that the reporter had nothing more than a vague notion

of what had actually occurred in the incident involving a Corona del Mar

senior.

Unfortunately, the article is another illustration of the

sensationalism and hyperbole that surround school “violence” -- in the

reporter’s terms -- in the wake of the Columbine, Santee and other school

incidents that actually involved violence and death.

The purpose of your reporting should not be to exaggerate and

sensationalize a relatively minor incident through the use of bold

headlines and inflammatory verbiage such as “violence,” which was quite

unnecessary in this case. This constitutes another example of the worst

kind of quasi-journalism that appears more concerned with selling papers

and advertising, as well as increasing readership, than in relating the

actual facts in a straightforward manner.

Moreover, it is inexplicable that the Pilot failed to follow up this

article with another, equally visible, piece which would have noted that

the charge against the student was reduced at the arraignment to a

misdemeanor, an unusual decision by the court based on the police file

and the district attorney’s office’s own recommendation.

Playing to the current public hysteria and fear caused by truly tragic

events such as Columbine and Santee and by sensationalizing a local

incident that was nothing more than a schoolyard shoving match is not

only irresponsible journalism, it is disgraceful. People like to believe

that what they read in the papers is accurate and not exaggerated. I know

I do. The Pilot has demonstrated that perhaps, at least in this case, it

may care more about sales and advertising than digging out the truth.

* JOSEPH E. MCKEEVER is a Newport Beach resident and a Corona del Mar

High School parent.

Editor’s note: The idea that this incident was a minor one is contrary

to the facts. It’s not every day that a “schoolyard shoving match”

results in a student being hospitalized and another being arrested and

held on $10,000 bail and later being charged with a misdemeanor. The

Daily Pilot stands by its reporting and the story.