To the media – call it what it is

I’m tired of the media telling stories and leaving out important, factual information.

If you’re not familiar with the tragic circumstances that led Pennsylvania State Senator Bob Regola to face felony charges, you can read about it here.

Anyway, after months of speculation and no answers, the coroner’s inquest declared that Louis Farrell, 14, killed himself. Yet, no one familiar with the case, the family or Louis himself has ever believed that was the case.

Now Senator Regola finds himself facing perjury charges stemming from him and his son’s lying and strange behavior the night in question and throughout the investigation. Regola’s son, Bobby, has already been tried and convicted in juvenile court.

I hope Senator Regola is found guilty and serves jail time. But, that’s for another blog, another day.

My issue with today’s Milan Simonich article is that it totally ignores all of the questions and shady behavior that surrounded Louis’ death. It simply states that Louis used Regola’s gun to “commit suicide.” To be fair, I heard Keith Jones on KDKA TV2 state the same thing this morning, so it’s not just an issue with the Simonich story. But I did take the time to email Simonich:

Clarification to your story – Regola perjury trial opens

I just read your article and think you need to clarify that Louis Farrell’s death was ruled a suicide – months after the horrible incident. Using the language “where a gun was stored that a teenage neighbor used to commit suicide” misleads the reader and misrepresents the situation. This was not a clear cut suicide – and many of Bob Regola’s actions (including his statements that lead to the perjury charges) added to this confusion as to what really happened that night in the woods.

It’s a disservice to the public not to mention every time you write an article about this trial that Louis’ death was ruled a suicide…and all of the mitigating and shady circumstances surrounding it.

I doubt my email will change anything, but it should. Reporting should be fair and accurate all of the time. It’s the media’s responsibility to its publics. I just don’t feel that it takes it – or us – seriously.