To the Editor:
As the police beat reporter for The New Hampshire, University of New Hampshire's student paper, I know firsthand the rollercoaster of pride, adrenaline, and absolute grief that Ms. Levy, Mr. Bubriski and the rest of the paper is experiencing now. This past October our small, rural campus (like Dartmouth, a place where "bad" things just don't happen) was rocked by the suicide of Laura Rice, a sophomore journalism student. After the initial press release was sent to the media, our dorms and campus buildings were closed to the "grown-up" press and I found myself in the unique position of the only newsperson allowed at the memorials, the support group meetings and in the hallways of Laura's dorm.
At some point that week I stopped being some college kid running around with a notebook and started being a real reporter. I remember feeling so guilty when the first story about the suicide came out, because I was proud of the reporting I had done. One of my professors pointed out to me, though, that I had helped stop the rumors, get the facts out and allow the healing process to begin. As the days and issues and column inches went on, I spoke to everyone from her best friend to her professors to her family. The coverage that we provided made her more than a rumor, more than a statistic. She was a real person with real problems who lived a real life and died a tragic, real death.
We did not sensationalize. We told the truth: quietly, clearly and compassionately and so have all of you.
I cried with my sources, I didn't sleep, I too put down my notebook at a memorial service because the words being spoken were for Laura and her friends, not the next day's headlines.
In May I graduate, as I am sure many of you will too, and I am pleased and honored to enter the media with colleagues as compassionate and capable as The Dartmouth staff. My deepest sympathies go out to the entire campus.
