We Encourage Feedback From Our Readers . . .
Even when it turns out to be one of these:
(phone message left for Cassie Clark, who wrote our lead story this week on the shooting at NorthPark):
(Thu., 8:49 p.m.) — “You dumb ****. I’ve been here 37 years and I read your stupid article. You think because one god ****** ****** decides to commit a random crime that NorthPark and its changes has anything to do with it? Huh? You ass****.”
The caller, whose caller ID listed ‘unknown’, hadn’t had enough. He called back later.
(Fri., 2:52 a.m.) — You forgot to mention in your article how those damn ******* get to NorthPark these days. DART. They get on that DART train and they don’t need a car to get there. They get there to steal cars. Don’t forget to put that in there. ‘Course you don’t have to say ‘******.’ Say ‘undesirables.’
How about that. He found his conscience in the final two sentences.
Editor’s Note: The correlation between the increase in crime (most of it non-violent) and NorthPark’s expansion two years ago is attributed to shoppers we quote as sources in the story. We made no such conclusions in the story itself or in our reporting.
Hmm… it was probably from MC’s dad.
Whew! I thought I was the only one to get hate voicemail here.
I also notice that he has the cajones to call at times when the office isn’t open. What? Can’t say all that stuff to a live human being?
I think I’ve met this guy at Kuby’s. Did he mention that he’s married to a volamom?
For what it’s worth, I thought it was an excellent story. The bottom line is that while, yes, crime happens (really?), and while, yes, people get shot in Dallas (noway), when it happens at such a public, well-known, well-circulated venue, it becomes a more pertinent issue.
So while many local news media outlets reported on the bare bones of the incident, Ms. Clark is the only reporter I saw who actually went a step further and talked to mall patrons and employees, thus acknowledging the 800-pound gorilla in the room. In my view, her story doesn’t allege or insinuate conclusions. Sure, it raises questions, but that is what good reporting does. And I would think crazy, nut-job responses like these only affirm that this was good reporting.
Thank you Mat - that’s what we intended to do, especially reporting on the incident one week after it happened. Cassie localized it and what it now meant to those who frequent that particular mall. And that’s what you won’t see on TV reports.
And Kristin, we get those calls a lot more often than we’ll ever admit.