Did McClatchy pull Duke lacrosse Mom's letter?

On Monday, Apr. 3, the mother of a Duke University lacrosse player responeded to columns by McClatchy Company's Raleigh N&O news columnist Ruth Sheehan. ("Team's silence is sickening" and "Lacrosse team out of control")

The mother posted a comment (really a letter) at Sheehan's McClatchy sponsored blog.

Sheehan posted what I thought was a self-indulgent responese.It amounted to: "Sorry Mom, but not my fault. Go blame Duke." She tucked the Mom's letter in her post but you could still read it.

I responded to the Mom at Sheehan's post, and posted the Mom's comment and mine here at Jinc. I linked backed to them at Sheehan's post.

I double checked the link to Sheehan's post about 5 PM Eastern. It worked both times. Others went to Sheehan's blog and had no trouble.

Then about 9 PM, friends started calling:the link was dead.

Not only that, when I went to Sheehan's post,it had disappeared along with the Mom's comments. My comment was somewhere else at the blog, attached to another post.

The rest of Sheehan's blog worked fine. Nothing else had disappeared.

I called The N&O twice. They say, "Try calling back tomorrow. We can't help you."

Any ideas or suggestions?

I hope it's a tech problem. Last August when The N&O's exec news editor, Melanie Sill, caused an outrage by telling people things that weren't true, The N&O pulled from her blog readers' comments critizing Sill. It took pressure from lots of people citing First Amendment rights before The N&O put the comments back up.

You can see what that was all about here and here.

I'm adding the Mom's letter to this post along with my comment.

The Mom's letter is a "don't miss" and really needs to be out there.

Please let people know about it.

As bad as The N&O's and other MSM coverage has been let's remember there are also decent journalists out there who want to be fair.

Thanks.

John
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The mother's comment:

I don't know if you have any children, I can't imagine that you do.

I'm sure you are aware of the cruelty and profound harm of discrimination against groups of people.

My son is a Freshman student-athlete on the Duke Lacrosse team. He is a young man honored for his integrity, academics and sportsmanship. He is a high school All American. He has worked hard since he was five years old to excel in a sport that he loves.

It is very difficult to put that much time into a sport and maintain excellent grades and an extensive record of community service. There are many other boys on this team who are similarly honored.

There are Christians who have never had a beer.

There are boys who did not go to the party.

There are boys who left the party early and did not have a beer.

And then there are boys who are "vile," "out of control" boys who have been arrested with an open container of beer. Why don't you delve into the arrest records of all Duke athletes, of all Duke students, or of all Duke employees, for that matter?

Can you imagine how proud my son was when he was recruited to Duke to study and play the sport in which he excels?

I went to Duke and his brother and sister graduated from Duke. Our love and respect for the University has been central to our lives.

You are discriminating against one group of people, not because of fact, but because of innuendo.

You are writing harmful generalizations about boys whom you know nothing about.

When these allegations are proven false, will you write about the woman who has victimized these boys? No, you won't because that is not sensationalist news.

These boys have faces. They are individuals with families. To grossly characterize them is slander and libel. You should be "dumped."
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My comment:


To the Duke lacrosse Mom:

Thank you for speaking out.

While many people are eager for the type of reporting/prosecution The N&O has been providing, many of us are keeping an open mind. We don't have lynch mob mentalities. We want things to work out in ways that are as fair and just as possible for all.

I can only imagine the intensity of the fears you and others must have now as you listen and read reports from police of threats of physical violence directed at Duke students in general, and members of the men's lacrosse team in particular.

Given those reports a lot of us thought Sheehan would at least tone down her attacks on the team. I talked to some people this morning who are not admirers of hers or The N&O but who were still surprised, even shocked, that in the current circumstances she and The N&O would run today's column.

We’re very sorry they did.

To your question as to whether Sheehan has children: She does, and sometimes writes about incidents impacting their lives.

I think people would agree that where her own children are concerned, Sheehan is very caring and protective.

I plan to post you're letter at my blog. Since it references Sheehan's columns, I will also link to them. That is seen by bloggers as being fair to readers. They can see both sides and make up their own minds.

Yes, that will give Sheehan a wider audience and inevitably some will cheer her on.

But most people I hear from at my blog are intelligent and fair. I have a pretty strong idea about what they'll think of Sheehan's columns and your letter.

Thank you for writing such a powerful and important letter. I admire you for being able to do so in these circumstances.

John