1. Welcome to SportsJournalists.com, a friendly forum for discussing all things sports and journalism.

    Your voice is missing! You will need to register for a free account to get access to the following site features:
    • Reply to discussions and create your own threads.
    • Access to private conversations with other members.
    • Fewer ads.

    We hope to see you as a part of our community soon!

Oregonian taking a lot of heat from readers for this one. What do you think?

Discussion in 'Journalism topics only' started by zachpm, Jun 8, 2017.

  1. zachpm

    zachpm New Member

  2. BurnsWhenIPee

    BurnsWhenIPee Well-Known Member

    I think they're in the right. Horrible crime, and a marquee athlete. The question if the school knowingly brought a sexual predator on campus because he's a talented pitcher is a valid one.

    A 6 year old? Fuck him and any kid glove treatment. It sounds like they didn't get the story and hold it for this week. They gave everyone a chance to comment, and everyone refused.
     
  3. Alma

    Alma Well-Known Member

    Here's the profile itself:

    Luke Heimlich sex crime surfaces as Oregon State baseball nears College World Series

    And a John Canzano column calling for Oregon State to make a "strong statement" and quoting Brenda Tracy, an advocate for sexual assault victims who was also a rape victim at the hands of several Oregon State football players in the late 90s.

    Canzano: Making a pitch for decency when it comes to Oregon State pitcher Luke Heimlich

    There's a lot to unpack. I'll say that. Heimlich is a public figure and he molested a girl at an age where it's unmistakable, his intent. It's public record.

    Now...whether Oregon State should let him play is a different matter - even if I don't think Oregon State should, it's a different matter - and I think that matter kind of got intertwined into the Heimlich profile in a way that I would have preferred was more of a separate story. Maybe it was and I just didn't see it on the site.
     
    Big Circus and BurnsWhenIPee like this.
  4. TheSportsPredictor

    TheSportsPredictor Well-Known Member

    He's done.

    Can only imagine the opposing team's fans chanting, "child molester" or worse while he pitches. And Oregon State fans would want to stand up for that? Don't see it. Probably not a case Oregon State officials want to go to bat for, either.
     
  5. TheSportsPredictor

    TheSportsPredictor Well-Known Member

    Screenshot_20170608-194731.png The New York Post don't play.
     
  6. LongTimeListener

    LongTimeListener Well-Known Member

    I learned something very important in that story.

    Research shows that the vast majority of juveniles convicted of sex crimes do not reoffend in subsequent years.

    After about three years, the likelihood of reoffending is "very small," said psychologist Michael Caldwell, who lectures at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

    At five years, the recidivism rate for another sex crime hovers at 2.75 percent, according to a study that Caldwell published in 2016. That's because juvenile sex offenders tend to mature and respond well to intervention, Caldwell said.


    Assuming Heimlich has matured as the vast majority of kids in these cases do, there is little chance that he poses a risk to anyone on campus or anywhere else. I hope we don't throw people away because of what they did at age 15, particularly when research shows they're solid candidates for redemption.
     
  7. QYFW

    QYFW Well-Known Member

    The timing?

    "Yeah, I know he's a child molester, but couldn't you have waited until after the CWS to print this?"

    I can't see how anyone could have a problem with this.
     
  8. canucklehead

    canucklehead Active Member

    Of course they could have waited to print the story but what if they held the story and some else stumbled across it and went with it. What editor is going to take that chance?
    It was made pretty clear when we joined the newspaper business that scoops were good and if we had someone no one else had, it goes in right away.
     
  9. zachpm

    zachpm New Member

    The Twitter comments generally accused the paper of sitting on this until the Super Regionals. The timetable that Katches outlines makes sense to me, though.
     
  10. Jake_Taylor

    Jake_Taylor Well-Known Member

    I was surprised by this, but then you think about how much developing the brain has left to do just in general, but in particular with sexuality, I guess it makes sense.
     
  11. Twirling Time

    Twirling Time Well-Known Member

    Who knew that a Heimlich maneuver would be so bad.
     
  12. QYFW

    QYFW Well-Known Member

    Got ya.
     
Draft saved Draft deleted

Share This Page