Hands down, a journalist’s worst duty is reaching out to the relatives of accident and murder victims.
None of us wants to do it. But humanizing crime victims amid a society that has grown desensitized over violence is our job – one that thankfully we’re not asked to do often.
In the wake of Chattanooga Police Sgt. Tim Chapin’s shooting death eight days ago, allegedly by a robbery suspect, this newspaper has come under fire itself for making one phone call to Chapin’s home.
Police and courts reporter Todd South didn’t relish making that call. He was respectful and sensitive and was treated with grace by a woman he believes to be Chapin’s widow, who politely declined to be interviewed. Todd has made several of these calls in his role as a journalist and does it with compassion.
For that one phone call, he has been inundated with hate mail from police officers, one of whom anonymously emailed with the subject line “Insensitive Prick.” It stated, “You should be ashamed, but apparently you don’t have the ability.”