Her story and suicide, under different circumstances, would have just became another tragic statistic. However, because of the reasons behind her death and the story told by one reporter, her death is rocking the media industry.
Two local adults, parents of a former friend of Megan, posed on MySpace as a teenage boy who first befriended Megan and then turned on her. She was so shamed by the adults' false postings--which she thought were made by the boy--that she killed herself. Despite telling the story at great length and in great detail, the local paper declined to identify the offenders "out of consideration for their teenage daughter." - David Crook's Letter to Romenesko
In a story as tragic, and horrific, as the one presented here, the question begs to be answered -- who deserves to remain anonymous. The adults who sent Meiers these terrible messages, posted the cruel bullietins, are not having charges filed against them, mainly due to the fact that there is no charge to fit the crime. Nevertheless, their names have been left out.
Do they really deserve to remain anonymous? Gelf magazine caught up with the reporter who wrote the original story to ask him why.
His answers were short.
Steve Pokin: ... My focus was on the story that appeared in my newspaper. I told that story the best way I could. As part of that—in consultation with my editors—we decided not to name the people behind it.
GM: Were there any other reasons you didn't name names besides your intent to protect the woman's daughter?
SP: That was the main reason.
GM: Were there any others?
SP: I don’t want to go into the other reasons
I want to know. What were the other reasons? I feel that the people behind the fictitious MySpace account are adults. They knew how cruel they were being. They are the reason this little girl is dead.
How did the reporter and his editors decide to leave these people's names out of the story?
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