Missouri weekly sheds light on violent bullying in small town - Entrepreneur Generations

Edina, Missouri. (Missourian map)

Big dailies often get the lion's share of attention (and awards), but stories like this prove that papers of all sizes produce great journalism -- like The Edina Sentinel, a weekly in the Missouri town of 1,200.

After rumors surfaced of sexual assaults involving the Knox County Middle School football team, editor and reporter Echo Menges began investigating. Three seventh- and eighth-grade players had allegedly sodomized up to five fifth- and sixth-grade players with metal objects while other students were forced to watch; the assaults took place over the first several weeks of the football season, Anna Brett reports for The Missourian.

Numerous people called the Sentinel, wanting to know the facts, but the school superintendent and sheriff wouldn't confirm details of the incident, and the school board wouldn't let parents talk about it at a recent meeting. So Menges began talking to the children and parents. The town's small size means the assaults are relevant to a higher percentage of the town, but also made it harder for Menges to investigate. Many of her sources insisted on anonymity, which she granted. If she's asked in court to reveal those sources and refuses, she would face jail time since Missouri doesn't have a shield law protecting journalists from having to reveal anonymous sources. But: "This is an important enough story that I would be willing to go to jail for it," Menges told Brett.

The Sentinel published Menges' investigation last Friday.

from The Rural Blog https://ift.tt/2yJhLv2 Missouri weekly sheds light on violent bullying in small town - Entrepreneur Generations

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