To the Editor:
Victim-blaming is a common, predictable way of coming to terms with seemingly senseless violence, so I should not have been surprised to see The Boston Globe, in two articles in Friday's edition, in effect, blaming both Half and Susanne Zantop for their brutal murders. First, in "Love Affair Eyed in N.H. Killings," Half Zantop is accused of having had an adulterous affair (an unsupported allegation which has been denied by the N.H. Attorney General's office and which, even if true, hardly explains a double homicide) and then, in "Zantops Were Close, but a Study in Contrasts," Susanne Zantop is implicitly accused of having driven her husband to such an affair by her "workaholic" tendencies. Worse still, the loving testimonies of the Zantops' closest friends and relatives were cited, out of context and without their consent, in support of these outrageous speculations. Even if, legally, such reporting does not constitute actionable libel or invasion of privacy, it is still morally reprehensible.
I am distressed, given The Dartmouth's excellent reporting of this tragedy thus far, that you put a link on your web site to the first of these Globe articles, and that it remains there, even after the latest news today. Although the editor of the Globe, Matthew V. Storin, has announced that they "will continue to report the story [of the alleged affair] aggressively," I hope that you will hold yourselves to higher journalistic standards.
