No Wonder the Public Doesn't Trust Newspapers

Here's the A1 above the fold 1,000 word Republic article screaming the news that Sandra Dowling had been hit with a 25 count indictment.

DOWLING HIT WITH 25 COUNTS -
SUPERINTENDENT IS INDICTED IN THEFT, FRAUD
Arizona Republic,
November 21, 2006
Author: Carrie Watters, The Arizona Republic

Maricopa County Superintendent of Schools Sandra Dowling, a longtime advocate for homeless children, has been indicted on 25 felony charges, from theft to bid rigging and conflict of interest.

Here's the article proclaiming that nearly half of the charges were dropped.

Charges Dismissed against former schools chief

A Maricopa County judge today dismissed 10 criminal charges against former county school superintendent Sandra Dowling.

The second article is 200 words on the bottom of B8 next to the weather page. 
At least Dowling got an update.  How about this story about Congressman Jim Kolbe?
PROSECUTORS LOOK INTO CLAIM OF KOLBE MISBEHAVIOR ON TRIP
Arizona Republic, The (Phoenix, AZ)
October 14, 2006
Author: Billy House, Republic Washington Bureau
Estimated printed pages: 3

Federal prosecutors are looking into an unspecified allegation tied to a rafting and camping trip that Rep. Jim Kolbe, R-Ariz., took a decade ago with two former male congressional pages and others through the Grand Canyon.

Of course when the Federal prosecutors cleared Kolbe of the "decade" old "unspecified allegation" there was no coverage in the Republic.  Zero.

It may not sell newspapers to report that charges are dropped and people are cleared but I think it's an ethical obligation.  The news that someone is cleared needs to be printed as prominently as the news that they might be in trouble. 

It won't sell any papers, but it might improve public trust and it seems to me that public trust in newspapers is the only thing dropping faster than circulation. 

Comments

[muckraker]

FYI, the East Valley Tribune had the story about 10 counts vs. Dowling being dismissed stripped across the top of Page 1.