THE SHAMELESS, SHAMELESS PRESS

It seems that Grand Rapids Press editor Mike Lloyd and publisher Danny Gaydou have no shame.  Everyday from the beginning of this month, they have exploited the story of the tragic mix-up of the identities of two young women involved in a fatal automobile accident in April.  One woman died and the other survived, but the coroner mistakenly identified one as the other and only recently have their families sorted out the truth.

There is no question that such an extraordinary event is newsworthy.  Because the family of the woman who died resides here, the Press properly made it a front page story when the news first broke on June 1st.  And sure, a couple of things unresolved on June 1st merited a follow-up article or two in the regional section of the newspaper.  Instead, Lloyd has milked the tragedy by reducing it to bathos with emotionally exploitive front-page top-of-the-fold stories every single day since then.

Shame on Lloyd, and shame on Gaydou for letting him do it.  It long past the time that the Press spared the families of these two young women its morbid fascination calculated solely for the purpose of increasing circulation.

Comments

[NW Activist]

It's really a shame that GR Press Editor Mike Lloyd and Publisher Danny Gaydou have completely ignored and refused to cover the "other" important news stories that are going on in this community, like the bogus autopsy reports being produced by Kent County Medical Examiner Dr. Stephen Cohle and his for-profit company, or the cover-up of our deceased loved ones' suspicious deaths, their mutilated bodies, and their stolen body parts. All of our families definitely deserve an honest answer to this question from both Mike Lloyd and Danny Gaydou.

[The Executive Director]

Absolutely, Phyllis. There is a lot of important news that the Press that doesn't cover. After this most recent episode of exploiting the same story for a week, clearly the Press is capable of focusing on stories that require depth.

Regards, Bill

[Nowling]

I think you are being a bit harsh on the Press. Afterall this is a national story that's still making headlines across the country. You just can't act like it's not there. I don't disagree that there are probably other stories in need of coverage, but this story still has legs. The fact that we are still talking about it is proof of that.

[The Executive Director]

Hi, Bill.

I agree that this extraordinary and tragic story merited coverage and some follow-up. However, for several days in a row the Press sensationalized on the front page the tumult of emotions that family and friends were enduring. It used as a hook for this any small development in the story that it could. To learn that one group is joyful and the other is devastated is not news. It is voyeurism.

Regards, Bill

[Mahogany]

I have a concern of my own. My brother had stage four lung cancer, in which he had surgery and chemo. his cancer was gone...yet he returned to the hospital the next day and passed out because he began to spit up blood. The doctor at Spectrum, was highly convinced that he would make a full recovery and was apologetic to us when had called us up from Michigan to come to the hospital because my brother had stopped breathing. The nurses and the doctors had assured us that my brother was doing well and should be out of the hospital soon. After just leaving Grand Rapids, we got a call the early morning call that he had died. I asked the nurse prior to leaving the hospital for home, why was his blood pressure dropping to 67/60 if he was doing all right? She informed us that they have him on medication to ease the pain. My brother was alert coming in and out of sleep due to the morphine drip he was on. The nurse also, told the family that they increased his morphine so that he could rest better and heal. I think that my brother was over medicated and killed by the staff at Spectrum. I have tried time and time again, to convince my family to have an autopsy, but to no avail they did not. What can I do and where do I turn, because I just don't understand why did he die so quickly, if he was on his way to a full recovery? HELP!!! and thank you