RUMORS GET THE BETTER OF COMMUNITY CONCERN

A federal, drug-related indictment handed down Tuesday against a Cape Girardeau attorney punctuates an interesting, and probably not unprecedented, couple of weeks in this community's history. Justice is taking its course: a man stands accused of a serious crime, has told a magistrate he did not commit that crime, and we will assume innocence until guilt is proven. Still, as this system moves forward as intended, we can't cite the last couple of weeks as proud ones for Cape Girardeau.

Word of the initial parts of this legal action began to spread throughout Cape Girardeau almost from the moment law enforcement authorities zeroed in on him three weeks ago. Word, unfortunately, has a more energetic nature than the machinations of federal prosecution. As every judicial "i" was being dotted and every "t" was being crossed, rumors began to run wild.

What were the rumors? They started with the drug-related accusation about the man indicted Tuesday and extended in varying intensity and persistence to public officials, respected business people and other individuals. Where did the rumors start? Your guess is as good as anybody's. These things are known: One, from coffee shops to church gatherings, idle speculation about the involvement of specific individuals took on a vibrant life, and, two, the rumors were damaging to the individuals they targeted.

What was the Southeast Missourian doing when all this was going on? Countless media seminars are held on the subject of the handling of rumors and never a definitive solution evolves. Publishing the rumor is irresponsible, and most people would agree with that. Publishing the rumor without the names involved only gives the rumor a broader reach and gives readers the incentive to inquire about the missing names. Trying to dispel rumors without the facts to do so can inflame the problem or inadvertently give rise to new rumors. There are few ways for a newspaper to win in the rumor game.

The surest way is to follow the policy the Southeast Missourian has adopted: no story is written about a suspected criminal until a charge is filed or, as in this case, an indictment is returned by a grand jury. This policy is in place to protect innocent people from being falsely defamed, to allow legal authorities to build their case fully and because it is difficult to corroborate information when publication precedes a law enforcement agency's official findings.

From time to time, a story comes along where a great deal of information is on the street some of it correct, some of it remarkably off base but not enough of it can be verified and published. Keep this in mind: Fallacious talk is damaging in itself, but the publication of unsubstantiated claims can be devastating. Frustrating as it may be to the people in the coffee shops, we must take the responsible route.

Over the last two weeks, the Southeast Missourian has been accused of suppressing the story that came to light Tuesday. Some say the newspaper suppressed it for political reasons. Some say the newspaper suppressed it for racial reasons. Some say the Southeast Missourian has covered up for an influential citizen while reviling the criminal deeds of less advantaged persons. None of these is true. We handled this story in accordance with our guidelines for good journalism.

While we will accept the inevitable criticism that comes from some quarters (since that is part of the territory working in the public eye), we are disappointed that so many people seemed to take the easy way out on this one. Many in recent weeks have preferred to concentrate on one drug-related charge against one individual instead of focusing on Cape Girardeau's overall drug problem, a more abstract problem to be sure, but one that affects hundreds of lives. Gossip dark, unpleasant and for the most part misdirected got the better of community concern in this instance.

The Southeast Missourian has been cautious not to get ahead of the facts on this story. People who discuss the involvement of others in criminal activities would do well to follow this example.