No offense meant
In a letter to the editor in this week's edition, a wrestling parent wrote to complain about a headline that read "Hays meet humbles Trojan wrestling team."
She felt the eight boys who went to the state meet were not humbled, and took offense to the wording.
She went to on to talk about their accomplishments (all of which were mentioned in the story), and told them how proud of them she was.
Which is fine.
But newspaper articles are not about patting everyone who participates on the back.
Their purpose is to report what happens.
After dominating their regional, the Trojans scored just 21 points at the state meet, and had just one wrestler medal.
Several other wrestlers who went in as high seeds, did not.
That does not mean they did not have fine seasons, but even as Trojan coach Scott O'Hare put it in the story: "Other than Frankie [Martin] placing in the top six, it was a rather disappointing weekend."
Now, he did go on to say he was not disappointed in the kids' effort, but just the outcome of the weekend, and he was proud to coach each and every wrestler.
Could the headline have said Trojans score 21 points at state meet, or something along that line?
Yes.
But the newspaper is not a weekly newsletter supported by the booster club, and the sports section is not an opinion piece.
As the sports editor, I did not write the headline, but I read it and felt it reported what happened.
I stand by the headline and the writer who wrote it, mainly because it was the truth.
The story focused on the positive outcomes of the weekend as well, and had quotes from O'Hare that were positive toward the team.
The Hillsboro High School wrestling team had a fine season, as it was reported each and every week in the Hillsboro Star-Journal.
— Mike Norris
Sports editor
Hillsboro Star-Journal
Peabody Gazette-Bulletin
Marion County Record
