June 23, 2005

From The Editor’s Desk

‘Suspension’ story was not sensationalism – It told the truth

Readers have been reacting this week to a front-page story we ran on Tuesday that delved into the strange and disturbing scene of body modification, a practice where people suspend themselves by hanging from multiple piercings along their body.

Those who are angry about the story have cancelled subscriptions, written letters to the editor and contacted Tidings management to protest the story. Some have used terms like “disturbing,” “sensational” and even “pornographic.”

The bulk of complaints center around our decision to put a story that represents a very small, non-mainstream slice of the community on the front page, displayed prominently. Also, the photos, which showed people suspended by hooks, were viewed as too graphic for a newspaper.

This story was not intended to sensationalize or even promote this activity. The story reported on an event that took place in front of many people, even children, in a local gallery on a weekend night. The public was welcome to watch the proceedings. The sources in the story agreed to be photographed and interviewed. We delayed the story for several days to provide as complete and balanced coverage as possible. We did not rush it into the paper in hope of creating a sensationalistic stir.

The decision to run the story on the front page stemmed from the increasing issue of piercing and pain in people, mostly younger. Body modification is an extreme form of a relatively common phenomenon where people derive some level of satisfaction from hurting themselves. Very often in our community and our culture we see people with vast amounts of tattoos and body piercings. Virtually no part of the body is off limits. The phenomenon is such that these behaviors can even become addictive, where people plan their next tattoo, or make an event of still yet another body piercing.

The psychology of pain is a real issue among younger people in society, some of which is relevant, we believe, in our community.

The story was accurate. It did not glorify the process. It covered a public event, even capturing the uncomfortable feelings of those in the audiences.

While we knew some would find the story offensive, it was not our intention to offend. We write stories because they are true. We print them to inform. This is a disturbing part of our community for some, but it is nonetheless a real part.

We chose photos that explained the story. To tell a story that many would know nothing about without the use of photos, even disturbing ones, would sell the story short. It was a visual story that needed visual story telling — from the prayerful meditation of one of the participants to the looks of surprise from the onlookers — to accurately tell it. The photos weren’t graphic in the way we would typically define it — there was no nudity, no blood was shown and nobody looked in extreme pain or distress. Still, we understand that some may find them to be too graphic. We certainly didn’t anticipate the intense reaction to those photos. Had we, it may have played a part in our decision to run the story. It will certainly be considered more strongly in future stories.

Finally it is important to realize that the story took place here, in Ashland, with Ashland residents at the center of it. People came from as far as Eugene to participate in it, and that says something, disturbing or not, about our community.

We encourage your feedback on this matter. Send all letters for publication to tidingsopinion@dailytidings.com and all letters not intended for publication to me, at abolsinger@dailytidings.com.

Andrew Scot Bolsinger
Editor
Ashland Daily Tidings