Two readers, Chris and Justin, took issue with a sports story on the KU basketball team’s visit to Wichita. Both were pretty upset at reporter Jeffrey Martin’s reference to a fan in a wheelchair and a passage in the story when she met Darnell Jackson up close. This is one of those instances in which I can only say, “Yes, you’re right.”
Both Justin and Chris felt like the story was insensitive, and I agree that’s how it reads. As I explained to Justin, I’m certain Jeff never intended to embarrass the woman he referenced in the story. This was a case of trying to be funny — which backfires more than it works in the written word, I think — and needing an attentive editor to pull the plug on a bad idea.
I had the same reaction as Chris and Justin when I saw the story in the paper. We committed multiple fouls: I think referring to a woman as “lady” is offensive to many women and we shouldn’t do it; we should never refer to a person in a wheelchair as having an “affliction”; and the phrase “with all due respect” placed in front of an insult will never mitigate the insult. Justin raised an excellent point in his email about whether referencing a person’s use of a wheelchair is relevant at all and compared it to people noting someone’s race. In fact, the Eagle has written guidelines specifically against referencing race unless it’s directly relevant to a story.
We’ll take some learning from this on matters of sensitivity.