In Pursuit of Truth, Accuracy
Months passed. Last Thursday, the Sentinel not to be mistaken for a beacon of integrity enthusiastically reported on its cover page, Charges Against Rev. Laudermill Reversed. The minister undoubtedly will paste that headline into his scrapbook. Such optimism gets well ahead of the story. I am not certain about the proportion of veracity in the claim. The confusing Sentinel story, by Yussuf J. Simmonds, the Assistant Managing Editor, turns out to be another ethical jigsaw puzzle amateurishly constructed by the newspaper. The reporting is so confoundingly convoluted that I was not sure at a point whether there even was a Rev. Laudermill. Levity, however, is inappropriate in this serious circumstance.
Getting the Story Straight or Crooked?
The evident truth is that the Rev. Laudermill who faced similar accusations in St. Louis won nothing more than a right to have his salary from Ward AME resumed until a final judgment is rendered. I think. The secondary headline on Mr. Simmonds story says, The allegations leveled against the former senior pastor of Ward AME Church have been reversed. Since the allegations were multiple and the headline inspecific, what is a reader to conclude? Contradictory quotations within the story only compounded the mounting confusion. What allegations, St. Louis or Los Angeles? Truth became a free agent. Mr. Simmonds never took control of his story. Without providing an overview or narrative for the reader, he was pulled along by conflicting statements that garbled his story into indecipherable mush. He failed to give either a timeline or a chronology of events. What is pending? What is settled? The ministers attorney, whom I was unable to reach, is quoted as saying that the reversal refers to the case against him in St. Louis. Both the minister and his attorney said the St. Louis charges have been dismissed with prejudice. In the prologue, Mr. Simmonds, the reporter, says nothing of the sort. For the Rev. Laudermill, winning restoration of his salary is a big deal. But it hardly equals a reversal of the fluorescent sexual charges in Los Angeles. The Sentinel based its story on the partisan word of the ministers attorney, who may have been quite clear in her message to the newspaper. Many attorneys, on the other hand, seek to inflate their stature by linguistically fogging the vision of their audience. Buried near the end of the long, 33-inch story in the Sentinel is the apparent truth of the present scenario. The office of the AME bishop guided the Sentinel to an attorney. As the lone voice from the other side, he said that the only reversal in the Los Angeles case was the following: As of Sept. 20, (the Rev. Laudermill) is on paid administrative leave. The minister remains in legal limbo. The matter is remanded for further hearings, the attorney added.
Postscript
Allegations against the minister apparently involve children. But the minister said no charges have been filed against him.
Postscript II
Why do we report this story? First, because newspaper readers need to be confident that news stories are being reported accurately. Otherwise, the compass for objective information has been lost. Secondly, we believe one of the two most important ethnic newspapers in Los Angeles has grossly violated a compact with its readers. The agreement states that a newspaper will present with clarity stories of community interest to its readers. Clarity is the orphan, the victim, in this sad but instructive spectacle.
