Dear Sir: “1 starl my bricf Ietier with a question — whose interests were served when the detailed account of a rape was printed in the July 6 “issue of The Terrace Standard? When Isee the descriptive ad- jective “brutal'* used, I can, as an adult, guess the nature of this: hideous crime. Whea young chil- dren read the explicit . sexual: ’ details, however, someone must - ‘answer their questions. And ques- tion they will: A child loses his/her innocence '. quickly enough. Why should we _ passively accept this particular * type of loss? need surely, The Terrace Standard not stoop 0 the sensationalistic style thal is used fo sell newspapers in the USA. ~ Our community clearly does have its’ share of crime, and we do our. very’ dest, communally, to edu- cate our residents in the hopes to prevent the worst from happen- ing. The story is not educational, in . this sense. It is nol in good taste. It clearly: is not sensitive. I be+ - lieve it-to be unnecessary, © the Gerneath the siory in question, is “lovely.” . youth What a severe contrast to ‘To end my note, | mus! add that “photograph directly un- ‘Oh, the -innocence of “the story and its contents. Twas relieved to discover that ‘several retailers pulled this edi- “ton ‘off their shelves, so as not to offend their customers. . “Are you able to tell your readers whose interests were served? This reader would like to know, and I de have an ‘‘inquiring mind’’ as ‘another tabloid would say. Yours truly, Lynda Bretfeld, Terrace, B.C. ag urely, The Terrace Stan- “dard need not stoop to the _ sensationalistic style that is used to sell newspapers in the USA. Dear Sir ’ I'm writing to you in regards. to your Eront- page: article “** Guilty “"T’started reading it and had to - - _ verdict in brutal Tape” (July 6, 1994), . stop halfway through it I found the. graphic. details and obscene ~ language offensive and absolutely . distasteful. ‘Tchad to -thraw the paper in the "garbage imimediately to prevent -my: children: from reading | that ar- ticle. I feel sorry, for the woman who wes raped and] don’t think she 2 anticipated having insult added to "injury. by: having all of Terrace “read about the details of that fate- ful night... “Ty pray you will be more sensi- tive to people's feelings in the fu- ture and use more taste, tact and © - discretion in your articles. Do not “let your thirst for sensationalism overrule your sense of decency. Yours truly, Miriam McNeil Dear Sir: ‘The play-by-play account of every disgusting detail of Rinsma’s sexual assault would -have read like an obscene sports report if it hadn’t been for enough “dialogue to script a pornographic film, "Whal was the point? The “supreme court jury needed to bear ‘ose.-details .-. I did not. Thank zodness I made it to the mailbox before my kids did! Lydia Piper, Terrace, B.C. Dear Sir: ‘When 1 sat down | to read the July 6 issue J was shocked and then angry. There staring at me as . front page news was the disgust- . ing article on the rape case. a a - The only thing not printed were “pictures, but the article itself was SO praphic nothing was left to the imagination. If the paper had ar- tived a few weeks earlier, my 9- year old daughter would have been to first one to grab ihe paper, scanning news articles for a school projec! on current events, When I complained about the article I was asked if lhat was my only concern, thal young children . would be reading the article, No, that is not my only concem! This article was disgusting for anyone who read it. AS parl of my job this week, I was asked to forward a local newspaper to someone out of town who will be visiting Ter- race in July and wanted a local paper for real estate listings, On Tuesday I asked The Ter- Tace Standard office to mail her - the next issue, I am embarrassed that this latest issue is what was sent out to try and attract a family tO Our area. ; It’s unfortunate that letters to the editor don’! make front page news as I’m sure there will be many letters’ about this type of journalism, ; _ Yours truly, Debble Kennedy, Terrace, B.C, Dear Sir: I felt I had to write and express -my absolute disgust with the story reported on the front page of the July 6 The Terrace Stan- dard regarding the-court case of Mr. Rinsma who was charged with rape. Why, may I ask, was it neces- sary to report all of the circum-— . - courage’ other victims lo come stances of the rape in such graph- ic detail? Surely you must realize that the reading population of Terrace in- cludes children. Do you not think that children tead your newspa- per, as well as adults? I am not only concerned that children would read this garbage but I was also offended at it. If I had wanted to find out the details about the case, I could have gone ‘to the court house and listened to the whole case in person. I sincerely hope that you will not allow this type of reporting lo appear in your paper agains « Yours truly, Mrs. M, Hambuis, * Terrace, B,C, Dear Sirs It is appalling that a community ‘Newspaper: such as The Terrace Standard would permit such smut to be printed on its front page, You. have. done a great dis- service to. this community and have with. this one article just aboul offended every one of your Teaders. Had it been in. my power I would have collected each and every issue and returned them. Tam disgusted! — Renate E. Hewitt, Terrace, B.C, ‘Dear Sir: I read and. saw your article entitled ‘*Guilty verdict in brutal rape’’ July 6, 1994). It was the headline on the front page of your newspaper. I felt extremely of- ‘J am not only concerned: that children would read this garbage but I was also offended at it.’’ (ended by this manner in which you presented it. I feel strongly regarding rape and sexual offences ctc. and feel we need to deal with them open- ly. However, such blatant ex- posure on the fronl page was certainly not necessary. I feel this Strongly because my , child, who is an extemely avid teader, was trying to read that ar- ticle. For the first time, I had to discourage him from reading. We do talk very.openly about matters regarding drugs, alcohol, violence and sex wilh our children, But we. carry that dialopuc and deliver such information in a suitable manner and cater it to the level of my child’s knowledge regarding. such matter; Before talking, we ensure the atmosphere is suitable to same, I feel this gross presentation was attacking: my child’ 8 in- nocence, ] wrote this letler because | love children and feel-I need to protect their innocence and rights as it is the children of our community who are delivering these newspa- pers for you... a Kanwal Gill, Terrace, B.C. ‘Had it been in my power I would have collected each and every issue and returned them.'’ Dear Sir: Regarding the front page article of July 6, “Guilty Verdict in Bru- tal Rape’’, we must express our concern over the manner in which the material was presented. One of our goals within the sex- ual assaull centre is to increase public awareness concerning sex- ual violence, and that perhaps is the inient of your article. How- ever, graphic and personally iden- tifying details are. entirely in- appropriate in a small community _ newspaper. This type of article does not én- forward with their evidence. Recounting the details in court is traumatic enough; reading it in the newspaper is dehumanizing and may amount to a third trauma, revictimizing the person. We would like to extend a sin- cere invitation to your staff to use our resource materials to famil- jarize and assist them in the writ- ing of future articles pertaining lo this and other related issues. We sincerely hope that your writers will be able to exercise more discretion in the future. ’ Sincerely, | Claire ‘Water, RN, . Shannon Andrews, BSW, Sexual Assault Centre, Ksan House Saciety, Terrace, B.C, Dear Sir ] was not at all surprised by the © reaction 1o your July 6, front page. - Story. | am. surprised by the - paper’s printed response, ‘in the July 13 edition, to all these letters and phone calls .... “they have all been not A mistake i in judgment has ‘been made, ] would expect some form’ of an apology and.a commitment to restore journalistic: integrity in The Terrace Standard. - Sincerely, - Jacques Pelletier, | Terrace, B.C, Dear Sir: .Two weeks ago you printed numerous: isiters from angry people outraged that your paper was SO graphic in its details about “a recent rape case. Many of those people speculated as to the rea- sons why you chose to disclose so much of the gory details. What J found most interesting was that there was no. final word from you as to the real reason(s). Conspicuously absent were any comments, apologies or explana- tions, Why is this? '. ‘Laurie Phillips, Terrace, B.C, Dear Sir: I like to congratulale you and your paper for ihe down to earth objective reporting of that partic- ular rape case, The volume of cfiticizing mail show, there are people living in Terrace who believe this town is Disneyland. That graphic descrip - tion show there are very sick games being played in the shadow of the ‘'Slecping Beauty Mountain’’. The only negative comment I have to make; What about the let- ters which never make it to the press? I have. such a story. which is much worse. The story was quictly swept under the rag and forgoticn. Se Sincerely, ~~~ Manfred Bader, Terrace, B.C, Dear Sir: ] am writing in response to your front page article, ‘‘Guilty Ver- dict’’, from the July 6 issue. How disappointed I was, al- though not surprised, with the choice of wording allowed to de- seribe the details in the outcome of this court case. When leaders in the community fail fo take a moral: responsibility for their actions, it contributes to the downfall of a society in more ways than can be counted. The Terrace Standard has clear- ly neglected its responsibility as a contributing part of this com- munity with an article like this, It obviously shows a lack of profes- sionalism. My thoughts were of all the children and young aduits that were exposed to this type of tabloid trash. Lockport Security, its share- holders and directors and myself personally will no longer support The Terrace Standard in any way unless a front page article is writ- | ten with full apologies conveyed. .. Sincerely, Joe Sullivan, Lockport Security Ltd. Terrace, B.C, “Recounting the details in court is traumatic enough; reading if in the newspaper is dehumaniz- ing and may amount to a third trauma, revictimizing the person.” Dear Sir: -I-have to. write to you. after ‘reading the letters about your front-page story aboul a rape. . You have many self righteous opinions from ‘“so-¢alled : . “experts”, but-you'do not have a response from any. woman who has beet raped. Well, ‘here itis. It is good that somebody has finally. told a rape slory. Yes, il brought. back. .many horrible memories for me, but no more than the many sights and sounds I am surrounded by in my daily life ‘like a hidden wooded area or a black.car driving past my house. Every time I relive my experi- ence Ideal with bits and pieces of ‘the horror and in the end grow a “little closer to recovery. : What makes recovery harder is having so-called experts trying to squash public discussions about raps in a misguided crusade to ~ help. “You would think they should know that it is not the telling of a story that hurts it is the shame brought.on by keeping il a dirty little secret. The comments that your rape siory is, pomography show that many people still regard rape as sex instead of violence. If that story had been about a mugging there would not be such an outcry from the so-called ex- pers who encourage victims io remain victims the rest of their lives. * Stories like that one can. only help others to understand what rape is all about. Thope you understand thal I can . nol sign my name to this letter. Dear Sir ; I did not appreciate the graphic details given in the headliner story of the July 6 newspaper. It must have been an awful ex- perience for the woman involved; bul that was already expressed in The Terrace Standard, Wednesday, July 27, 1994 - AS the words ‘‘rape, sodomy, physi- cal abuse, unlawful confine- ment.”” I don’t wish to know every sor- did detail, as is the custom ,to report, in the newsworld loday, Sincerely, N. Penner Terrace, B.C. “If that story had been about a mugging there would not be such an out- cry from the so-called ex- perts who encourage vic- tims to remain victims the rest of their lives.’’ Dear Sir: T usually look forward to receiving The Terrace Standard every Wednesday so I can sce what is happening our area, I don’t always agree with what I read, but in the long run] am im- pressed by your staff’s ability to cover evenls and provide. a balance of important news eveats, issues, and community tidbits. 1 am even impressed that you are broad minded enough to print some of those interesting letters to the editor, such as the one regarding sadistic police in Van- couver. Even that letier did not instill in me the outrage I felt after reading your front page story in the July 6 issue. ] cannot believe that you would print the details and conversations that took place April 16, 1993, when a woman was brutally raped. Nol only was she raped and brutalized then, but she also had to go through everything in court, only to effectively be raped again’ in your newspaper. Tt took a lot of courage for the victim to see the long road of jus- tice to the end, and you should be applauding her for that, showing people they should also have the conviction to do so, without fear of consequences. Instead you chose to humiliate her and make her a victim once more. . It is hard enough for police of- cial process, wilhout your paper metering them from doing just that. a You owe this brave woman an apology — as you do the officers who worked: many hours on this file, and provided support to this woman on and off duty. In my opinion you have crossed the fine line that separates news- papers and tabloids. Newspapers print informative articles, while tabloids print every disgusting detail, sensationalize events, and degrade people in order to sell papers. I don’t buy a newspaper to read tabloid garbage — and I won't buy one who prints it. Get back on the right side of the line! Sincerely, » P, Noonan, Terrace, B.C. Dear Sir: If ignorance is in fact bliss, while sharing your happiness you have managed to detail a graphic Tape while leaving out half the ore letters about rape story slory — the point of view of the victim. In sharing your ignorance with your readers, you have succeeded in not only offending a greal number of people in Terrace, you have also shared unnecessary knowledge with naive young minds, fed small minds the graphics that incite the crime in question, and reviciimized nol only one woman ‘but. unknown humbers more. I say ignorance because I am certain you were ‘trying to do ihe fight thing’, decing ‘good reporters” for the sake of nol only the many victims but of society in gencral — passing on horrifying facts of-a crime thal happens all toc often. Relying on the old line that the victims are innocent and their stories need to be told. That rape is a temible injustice and people need to listen, Well, you passed on the facts all right. You just didn’t pass them all on. . The terror and the fear the vic- tim felt were missing. The shock and horror. The total and absolute helplessness in a situation where ihere is no control. No defence. Complete isolation. The will to live in 2 situation where there is no end. The wish to die in a situa- tion wheré there is no end. The pain, the devastation. The mind goes numb. No exit. Powerless, helpless, defenseless. Alone. You missed the part about the shame, the disbelief. And the pari about having to relive the whole incident by having to say all the details out loud, To total strangers no less, who were trying to be sympathetic but failed. And then having to say them oul loud again. And again. The hollowness and emptiness doesn’t come through. The hate and anger. The surprise that that , much hate and anger’is possible. The overwhelming feeling that revenge would be sweet, that cap- ital punishment isn’t wrong. “By your story you kave shown that reporters are no different from most others. You obviously don *t under- stand.’” How. her will is gone. How many. tears were shed, how often. How Sleep isn’t possible anymore, even with the lights on. The crawly feeling of her skin isu’t reporied. The one that doesn't come off in the shower. And how many times she has been told she must forget it, she must face it, deal with it - get on with her life. Everyone “understands”, . By your story you have shown thal reporters -aré no different from most others. You obviously don’t understand. Because if you did all the ‘facts’ would have been reported, Rape is a horrific crime and ‘peopie do need 10 listen, but not to just the court foom words, Rape is more than a physical act. Hear the victims, the survivors. Apologize for your ig- norance and assure us of your in- tention. Carol Sabo, Terrace, B.C, THE TERRACE STAN- DARD received 26 letters as a resull of ils July 6 story “Guilty Verdict in Brutal Rape’. Jt is the highest “number ever received slem- ming from.a single story in this newspaper. ’ Sixtecn are printed on this page. Nine have already been printed.” One writer asked that her letter not be printed, There were also numerable phone calls. in- Editor’s note With two exceptions, the letters criticized the publica. . tion of the explicit details of the assauil. The Terrace Standard ack- nowledges ths point of those _ who were offended. =. © Publication. of the details ‘was not done to sensational- ize whatoccured, _ Neilher was it done to of- fend readers who did take offense. Rod Link, Publisher/Editor THE START IS FOR PEOPLE LEARNING TO READ Hisssss SNAKES ARE going to be banned from the city. City council will do so by passing a by-law. The issue became pub- The Start lic after people saw big, pet snakes in Little Park by the library. They say they ‘don’t want big snakes out in public. - . Surrey and North Van- _couver already have laws about snakes, - ‘The. city. will Took ai those laws, “It’s a mystery POLICE DO not know why a car drove into: the Skeena River, drowning two people. The car went into the river near Cedarvale June 10. High water kept police from lifting the car out of the river until last week, Autopsies were done. And ihe car was inspected. The driver did not have a heart. attack. ‘The car was in good condition. Killed in the accident were Franklin Augustus Wheeler, 63, from Westbridge and Patricia Louise Leir, 63, from Kaleden. ~ “1 don’t know if we'll ever be able to come up’ with a reason why the car left the highway," said RCMP Staff Sergeant John Veldman.