Pater Familias

Theories, observations, and articles, by Philip Schaefer · All posts · Categories

WOULD YOU REVEAL A CRIMINAL’S PAST?

June 11, 2011 at 5:05 PM · Journalism

WOULD YOU REVEAL A CRIMINAL’S PAST? Years ago, Mary Jane and I had dinner with a husband wife who were both journalists. They told us how they had been working in a city in the middle of the country when it became known to a few people, including a reporter, that a very important person in the city had, when he was in his teens, shot and killed his entire family. Should this story have been published in the newspapers? We had a long discussion and wound up splitting on the issue. The men thought it was news that should be published. The women did not.