Exchange Over “Tainted Tomatoe Story”

What follows is a letter sent by myself to the author of a website, which critisized an article of mine based on a flashy headline and a lack of facts.

You can view the website in context here

Subject: Tomatoe Article

Sir,

I’ve noticed that on June 11th 2008 in your News Section you linked to one of my articles, yet you’ve failed to provide the entire context on your site, instead stating that “I chose this story because it is an example of how this scare has spread across the country with out any real facts just catchy headlines, no substance, and puts all tomatoes in a very bad light.”

Perhaps your readers would be able to see those “facts” if you were to publish my entire article, instead of the catchy headline and the first few paragraphs.

Hope this finds you well,

Adam Kirk

—————–

Adam,

I appreciated your comments. I give full credit to the writer and provide a link to the article itself so that the readers can form their own opinion. I get readers sending in comments all the time, some supporting my opinions and some who take a very different view.

I never put the entire article in the News Letter because that would not allow proper credit to your news organization and yourself.

I do believe your article was well written and provide all the information available at that time. I just wish that we had a better way of tracking product so that recalls would not damage an entire industry. I do respect the fact that when lives are in danger the public must be informed.

Please follow the link in the newsletter to the web page where it is posted. Click on the Source: wokv.com and you will see the full version of your article.

Sincerely,

Harold E. Myers

www.agplus.net

Thank you for your response.

I agree that there needs to be more oversight and tracking of food products in the United States, so outbreaks such as this can be quickly traced and eliminated with a minimal impact on the industry as a whole.

However, working in the system we have in place, there is little I can do as a reporter to root out the specifics of a recall when the FDA its self isn’t releasing the information.

It is sometimes difficult from a ethical standpoint to determine the amount of coverage that should be dedicated to stories that can cause widespread damage to an industry. However, in this case, no matter who is at fault, the possible seriousness of the outbreak is enough to warrant expanded and extended coverage based on the many food related illness stories in the past few years.

The headline, as I’m sure you know, is always geared to grab attention, whether it’s posted on a website or the front page of a newspaper. I don’t believe in this case that the headline or the article went beyond the guidelines that would be reasonable for a story of this nature. What I took offense to was the insinuation written under my story on your newsletter page, that the headline and write up somehow minimized the story as a whole, and wasn’t supported by facts.

If you have any information you’d like to pass along that may be newsworthy, don’t hesitate to contact me via email.

Thank you for your time,

Adam Kirk

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