Too Much Information?

(Getty Images)

In this space, we've discussed how to cover recently deceased people – from Merv Griffin to Boston firefighters – and there don't seem to be any hard and fast rules.

But like most things in the media, we tend to sense by feel when things are inappropriate.

Which brings us to the Sean Taylor story.

Yesterday, Richard Prince at Journal-isms wrote that some African-American writers were upset at the Associated Press accounting of Sean Taylor's death, with one reporter saying of the AP story:

The story AP has sent out is only as long as it is because it provides a laundry list of transgressions Taylor had that I simply feel are not important for this particularly tragic event. I mean, there's obviously a list out on everybody that's done anything wrong, waiting to be attached to the person's next scandalous story. Well there's no scandal here, just tragedy. And I feel that Taylor's memory right now is being done a disservice for rehashing that 'Taylor also was fined at least seven times for late hits, uniform violations and other infractions over his first three seasons, including a $17,000 penalty for spitting in the face of Tampa Bay running back Michael Pittman during a 2006 playoff game.'

Excuse me if I wonder out loud, what the hell does this have to do with him being shot. Mind you, this isn't an obit, this is breaking news.

Taking a look at the Associated Press story that Richard Prince linked to, the unfavorable information comes mostly towards the end, 30 or 40 paragraphs into the story. (Though an earlier AP story is far more questionable, with Taylor's infractions played a lot higher.)

One of the other people who took issue with the story suggested that "I just have a hard time believing that if Brett Favre got shot, there would be grafs about his personal drug abuse issues." Now, I don't think that there would have been extensive coverage of Brett Favre's drug abuse in such a story, but I do think that 40 paragraphs into such a hypothetical story, there would likely be a mention of his painkiller problem.

The word I keep hearing in the coverage – particularly here in Washington – is "senseless." There's no doubt that the shooting and death of a 24-year old defies reason. And when you add in racial components to the grief and shock, there's bound to be some people who raise questions of appropriateness. But there's also something to be said for filling out the picture of a public figure.

Certainly, this is an issue where rational people can disagree, but including such unfavorable information (about a player I loved watching) 30-plus paragraphs into a news story doesn't strike this writer as inappropriate.