LETTER FROM THE EDITOR//Joan Krauter x jkrauter@bradenton.com
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It was a brutal week for news coverage in Manatee County. We walked into the newsroom Monday morning with the grim task of chasing stories on shootings that took two lives Sunday - not in some dark alley, but in the evening hours on streets many of us travel in Bradenton.
Reporters already had their hands full. Hours earlier, a high-speed crash took the lives of two young men. In another fatal crash last Sunday, a 21-year-old woman was charged with child neglect after her car ran into a pole and left one man dead and her baby in the hospital. And, throughout the week, we were covering the trial of Stacy Williams III's accused killer, gavel to gavel.
What we soon learned Monday about the two separate shootings:
• A 31-year-old man had been shot eight times, killing him in the driveway of his home along 53rd Avenue West. As of Saturday, no arrest had been made.
• William White Jr., a 19-year-old former Bayshore High School student, had been shot to death in a car on 27th Avenue Drive East.
Arrested and charged in White's slaying are two 18-year-olds from Lakewood Ranch High School, Timothy Brooks and Cody P. Rogers. Rogers had already graduated from Horizons Academy, an alternative school. But Brooks was set to be Lakewood Ranch High's quarterback this year - a role that translates into a high-profile "star" at almost every U.S. high school with a football team.
Of all the stories mentioned here, our coverage of White's slaying has generated the most debate - much of it online, but also in phone calls from family, friends, foes and strangers.
Law enforcement reporter Robert Napper has led that coverage, turning stories about Brooks' and Rogers' arrests, their backgrounds and their families' emotional reactions. After uncovering prior felony charges against the two suspects, Napper also investigated what's required by state law - and found at least one serious lapse by the school district in allowing Brooks to remain at Lakewood Ranch High School.
Yet at least some readers chastised us for the boldly displayed coverage, with the harshest ciritcisms ranging from saying it created a race-charged case by running photos on Page 1A, to blaming us for creating a "star" system that would encourage such criminal behavior by calling Brooks a sports star in the headline and story. Most comments were anonymous, including these samples from Bradenton.com:
"The spin that the Herald has chosen to put on this story is absolutely bizarre. "Star"? Since when did a boy who plays a high school sports game warrant "star" status? The definition of "star" is "well-known". I guarantee that up until this week, 99.999% of the people in Manatee County had never heard this kid's name before. And the Herald has designated him to be a "star"? This is absolutely one the most pathetic attempts to sensationalize an already tragic story in a disgusting attempt to sell newspapers that I have ever seen..."
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