Print Media Coverage of Child Fatalities When a Human Services Agency is Involved

Are Child Fatalities Reported Fairly and Ethically By Print Media When The Human Services Agency Is Associated?

child fatalities print media human services agencyWhen a child dies and we learn that a human services agency or department was involved, how well does the print media cover the story? How accurate and thorough is it? Does the story convey sufficient comprehensiveness and perspective to give the reader a solid understanding of the events? Is there any discernible information bias, either intentional or unintentional? Does the writer seem to have an agenda?

In short – is it fair? And, for our purposes, to what extent might a news story have an unintended effect on a subsequent legal proceeding regarding that same child fatality? There is no scientifically valid, objective, approach to accurately answer these questions. Nonetheless, with a sincere effort at intellectual integrity, and given the space limitations, I attempt some meaningful observations. By no means should this be called a “study,” “research” or similar formal term; nor is this effort pro- or anti-department/agency.

In reviewing relevant articles, I looked at ones from 2014 to the present that had the terms “child died,” “department of human services,” and “custody” (and similar terms for each). I sifted through the … Read More... “Print Media Coverage of Child Fatalities When a Human Services Agency is Involved”