I wonder why the media so quickly disappeared when a court case they were so vehemently covering took an unexpected turn.
I was following your coverage of the Stephan's case where parents were charged for neglecting to provide the necessities of life after their toddler tragically died in hospital care.
The media, your paper included, were pretty quick to taint the headlines and poison the public to wag their finger in disgust at this so called negligent couple until the evidence began to suggest a sinister hospital cover up and corruption of justice.
No problem, we'll just vacate the story and the public will forget all about it just like always.
Meanwhile, this couple must now pick up the pieces, rebuild their family and dignity using their own resources and no media voice to inform your readers that the news had it wrong all along.
Furthermore, your paper will just pick up some other story somewhere, sometime down the line. Who cares as long as it pays the bills.
For once, will a media service serve the public and unbiasedly inform them of what is really going on around them? Can we ever trust the news?
I'm guessing you're not going to publish this letter anyway; after all, it's not in your interest to do so.
Nonetheless, it is fact and I'm thinking your employees must be aware of it.
Gary Kibsey
Prince George
Editor's Note: Hi, Gary - happy to publish your letter because it's in everybody's interest to do so. I can't speak for other news media outlets but we haven't published anything on the David Stephan trial recently because the trial over the past couple of weeks has been devoted to the judge hearing testimony from a medical examiner (I'm guessing this is what you're referring to about a coverup) before deciding what - if any - of that testimony is relevant and admissible as evidence. Most news media outlets don't publish what's said in a voir dire, the legal term for this trial within a trial, because it's ethically irresponsible to report testimony that might later be ruled inadmissible. We will continue to report on Stephan's trial and will certainly publish the outcome, whatever it may be, in print and online. Stay tuned.
