Toronto Star Public Editor survey

The Toronto Star has a survey to see what readers would have done with certain decisions the Public Editor had to make in the past year. The problem with this survey is they asked yes or no questions, but provided a reason for the yes or no. Sometimes I had a different reason for my yes or no, and sometimes my answer was more nuanced. Here are some thoughts that didn't fit in the form.

2. Two women involved in an intimate relationship are charged with the first-degree axe murder of a man one of the women was also involved with. Would you publish numerous headlines labelling this as a "lesbian axe murder case."?

Yes. It's accurate and fits limited headline space.
No. Would you refer to a heterosexual axe murder case?

If I wanted headlines like "lesbian axe murder case", I'd read the Sun. The Star isn't the Sun, and I'd much prefer that it behaves accordingly.

3. A woman is photographed in Guatemala City standing topless on a street after being beaten, doused with gasoline and set on fire during a lynching. Passengers of a public bus accused the woman and three men of participating in an armed robbery. According to local media, 219 people were lynched so far this year and 45 of them died. Would you publish this Reuters news agency photo?

Yes. The photo tells much about vigilante justice in Guatemala.
No. It's highly disturbing and sexually exploitive.

I do see the point of publishing the photo specifically because it is highly disturbing. However, this woman has already suffered the indignity (on top of the lynching) of being seen topless by a massive crowd of people. I wouldn't want to add the indignity of being seen topless by a bunch of people in Canada. The ideal solution (perhaps logistically unfeasible) would be to get the subject's permission: do you want the world to see what happened to you?

7. Ken Lewenza is elected national president of the Canadian Auto Workers replacing long-time president Buzz Hargrove. Do you publish this headline: "New CAW boss has a hard act to follow"?

Yes. The president is the boss.
No. Union "boss" is an offensive stereotype.

What's the offensive stereotype? I'm completely unaware of this connotation. Without waiving the option of choosing to revise my opinion once I learn what the offensive stereotype is, I do see how the space limitations of headlines would be a factor in choosing this phrasing.

9. Three of Toronto's top chefs are asked for some back-to-school recipes for meals that fit in a thermos. A recipe for chili calls for a cup of beer. A corn chowder recipe requires two cups of white wine. Do you publish these recipes?

Yes. Yummy lunch fare here.
No. Alcohol does not belong in recipes for kids.

The question to which I don't know the answer: is the alcohol burned off in the preparation process, leaving only flavour? Or is it still present in the final meal? The question not asked here but that I think is relevant: how many parents are willing to purchase beer or wine for the specific purpose of using it in a recipe prepared for their kid's lunch?

10. A 21-year-old vacationer from Poland was one of three men who died after diving into the churning waters of Muskoka's Moon River. Your photographer and reporter are on the scene when police divers pull the man's body out of the river. A distraught woman who identifies the body kneels beside the dead man and kisses his hand before numerous onlookers. Would you publish this photo?

Yes. Though the Star rarely publishes photos of dead bodies, this heart-wrenching photo powerfully illustrates the human impact of this news.
No. It's an intrusion on a private moment of grief.

I don't think it's fair to publish it without the subject's permission. I don't ever want to be photographed in grief, and I think other people should be granted the same dignity.

11. While covering the royal visit of Prince Charles and his wife Camilla, the Duchess of Cornwall, Star columnist Rosie DiManno describes the duchess as "a tad dumpy" and quotes from a biography that says, "It's widely known that Camilla is great in the bedroom." In another column, she recalls that the late Princess Diana dubbed Camilla "a Rottweiler." In another, DiManno gives Camilla a C-minus for her Canadian debut. Would you publish these opinions of the Duchess?

Yes. Columnists have wide latitude to express their views.
No. It's disrespectful to a member of the Royal family.

It's not that it's disrespectful to a member of the Royal family, it's that it's disrespectful to a person. The Duchess of Cornwall is a 62-year-old woman. Even if she is a public figure, she should not be spoken of judgmentally for having the characteristics of a 62-year-old woman.