Otterblog

It’s been more than two-and-a-half years since Darryl Hunt was released from prison after being wrongfully convicted in the murder of Deborah Sykes, yet twice in the past three weeks, the Journal has had front-page stories—on Sunday, no less—about criminal justice issues closely related to the Hunt-Sykes case. Yesterday’s was about the high expectations and lower realities of the state’s new innocence commission.

There’s a lot going on in the world these days—globally and locally—and it can make you wonder whether the newspaper is devoting too much of its resources to an issue that many people and readers might think is old news.

Our continuing interest in the criminal-justice system stems from a couple of areas: First, it’s a serious public-policy issue. There are few other areas where people’s liberty and freedom are so evidently at stake. Second, it’s important for newspapers to follow through on issues, to not drop coverage halfway through or just move on when they get bored. As long as public officials continue to make news from the Hunt-Sykes case, we’ll be there. Third, it’s our franchise. The Journal has done some groundbreaking work in exploring flaws in our criminal-justice system in recent years. And to the extent we get to play to our strengths, we’ll continue to do so

The balance between what the newspaper wants to report on and what the public wants to know is a constant. Most often, there’s an overlap. Sometimes, there’s a disconnect. On the best days, there’s enlightenment. It’s healthy for us to continually and consistently challenge ourselves on where we are devoting our resources and see if these moves make sense in light of what’s happening in the world. There’s no formula, thankfully, and the quirkiness and differences with what newspapers decide is news in their communities is still one of the hallmarks of journalism.