UPDATE: Editors across the U.S. face similar problems. The Crossville (Tennessee) Chronicle was threatened recently when a man armed with a knife entered the mail and pressroom and allegedly threatened employees, according to a report in the October Tennessee Press Association newsletter. The Crossville police disarmed the intruder and no one was injured. The intruder, a Crossville resident formerly of Georgia, was charged with two counts of felony aggravated assault, criminal trespass and violation of an order of protection.
The International Society of Weekly Newspaper Editors has an e-mail "hotline" for members to consult among themselves about problems. Recently posted was a query from an editor who was concerned about her safety and that of her staff because a local man charged with stalking had made threats against the newspaper. Following is an abridged rendition of the ISWNE discussion, beginning with pertinent parts of the editor's question:
"This is actually his second arrest in the last month and he recently got off probation in another stalking conviction. We had a case when a stalker murdered his victim ... and this was the first murder here in a decade, so people are pretty concerned about stalkers. Our story pointed out that the guy in question has said he has a hit list and has said that he will 'take care of' those on the list and then commit suicide by driving head on into another vehicle on the highway. People on the hit list have armed themselves. While police were tracking him down to arrest him, three families were relocated out of the county for their protection. Of course, we have named no victims. When he appeared in court, the judge cut the requested bail in half and did not order a mental health evaluation, which had been requested by the D.A. So he is free on bond.
"My story appeared today complete with a mug shot. The police chief called and said that he heard the guy is really angry about the story and would be visiting us. I had already told my staff to keep the doors locked this morning and let people in as they needed to be let in, but to call the police if this person appeared. Actually he did appear and the only person in the office was in back, saw him and did not let him in but did not call the police. Since then, I have had a lengthy conversation with him by phone (I know him and all his victims and most of the people on the alleged hit list) and I feel a bit better about the whole situation, but we’re still on guard.
"My question: Have you dealt with similar situations and what precautions have you taken? My ad manager flew out the door first thing this morning and hasn’t been seen since, and I have told everyone that they don’t need to be at the office if they feel at all threatened. I considered hiring some thug to be on site for a few days, just in case, but haven’t done that although the police offered to find someone for us. The police chief told me that we need to be concerned 'because this guy is insane.' We’ve now unlocked the door, but if he should show up, we will notify the police that he is here. We have a pretty open office here, and people kind of wander in and out. I have a separate office in the back, but people also walk in pretty much at will. In other words we aren’t the most secure place around. Any thoughts?"
Wow, scary. Our office is staffed by women only, and yeah, I'd have someone there as a guard if at all possible. I've never had anything that made me feel really threatened, but this most definitely would. I probably would have handled it the same way. I think putting a "thug" (or an off-duty cop) at the front door is probably something you should do now, for the staff's sake. In the future? This will make it harder to not back off a little bit when another nutball situation arises, though the great likelihood is that it will not.
In my 25 years, I've had one guy really put a concern into me. He was a paroled murderer and I had published something where he was the victim. He went off because his name was in the newspaper, and threatnened by phone to kill me. I called the police chief and made him aware in case something happened. Nothing did.
Do what is necessary to make sure that you, your staff and the public who visits you are safe. Editors of independent weeklies who do real enterprise journalism in small towns are at far greater risk for threats to their safety than those working in urban papers.
The simplest things we report may have the ability to set someone off unexpectedly — even children's soccer. Each syllable is personal to someone. We are uniquely accessible. Everyone in town expects to be able to walk in and lean on the front counter to tell the whole office how they feel about a story — good or bad. Some come in to plead with us not to publish their name in the Sheriff's Log after they get drunk, swing punches and threaten the officer who arrests them.
Over the last six years, a long list of stories have triggered attempts to intimidate the paper to choose silence over reporting. . . . It is true that some of the people who come in angry have been diagnosed with mental illness, and it is true that use of psychotropic drugs with sometimes obsessive results has increased by 75 percent in the U.S. Many are self-medicating with alcohol. But most are ordinary people, edgy with anxiety over stresses affecting small towns right now. . . . Meanwhile, election-season litanies and attack ads devalue facts and amp up emotion. People who see themselves as victims demonize those with whom they disagree. Dehumanizing opponents is the first step toward justifying violence against others. A sense of helplessness is a volatile fuel. Almost anything can become a spark. Words morph into irrational acts. So yes, these are uniquely challenging times.
On production days I used to work late into the night and early into the morning in a glass office with windows visible from the street, like a duck in a shooting gallery. No more. We researched the cost for bullet-proof glass. Instead I got a laptop and work in a different office, apart from the foot traffic, and sometimes many miles away. I still go to thousands of meetings and am constantly in the public on stories, but I'm not as predictable a target as I was before. After business hours the staff is required to lock the heavy glass front door and we always keep the back door locked. A person working in the office alone must lock the door. We monitor cars coming into the parking lot. If there is a possibility that keys have gone afield, we change the locks. We maintain a close dialogue with the local sheriff's substation. . . . If I feel someone is following me on our remote mountain roads, I don't make the usual turns if I'm heading to my home. We also keep our home doors locked, which we didn't used to do. And our most effective defense technique? We are very nice. We really, truly care. We listen sympathetically. We work like willing slaves to serve the community. We try to understand differing points of view. We do our best to be fair. If we make a mistake we say we're sorry, in print. It probably doesn't hurt that our publisher is six feet tall and a very quiet guy who doesn't let conflict escalate.
Please continue to be careful. Hone in on those gut instincts. . . . When I was younger and was living as a single mom in my hometown, I didn't originally have sense enough to be afraid until I realized some nut had been on my property. On more than one occasion after a controversial trial and court issues, I was followed home. Luckily for me, I had friends like you do on the police force and they began to patrol extra rounds in my neighborhood. . . . Use the buddy system. Keep your cell phone handy. Have 911 on speed dial. A lot of the time these folks are more talk than anything else.
It requires a great deal of courage to be a newspaper editor.
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