In the court of public opinion, things can have a way of becoming very unbalanced even without any of the facts being known.
Sometimes, even when the facts are brought to light, there’s just no convincing some people who choose to stick with their “version of events”.
I don’t know exactly why a horrific car crash happened on Friday afternoon, June 29 on Highway 4 just north of Elrose, which killed all six people involved, and as of right now, neither does anyone else.
What we do know is the tragedy that occurred. Two SUV’s slammed into each other just a little bit north of Elrose, and six lives were ended in one fell swoop. It was said by police that the vehicles were completely engulfed in flames upon the arrival of first responders.
It was also said that the crash appeared to take place on a curving part of Highway 4. If you’ve ever driven down into that area, odds are you know what I’m talking about. The way that Highway 4 curves at times can be jarring, even to experienced drivers. When I heard that the crash happened on one of those curves, I almost wasn’t surprised.
This is the kind of incident that just makes your heart sore. Here were six people on the road just before the Canada Day long weekend, and their lives came to a violent end in probably mere seconds. Just plain sad is what it is.
However, while the incident was obviously very heartbreaking, I've grown a little concerned about the media coverage that has followed it.
In one vehicle was a young family of five from Rosetown; two parents named Troy and Carissa Gasper who were in their mid-to-late 20's, and three kids aged 6, 4 and 2 by the names of Kael, Shea and Maks. In the other vehicle was a 71-year old woman from the Swift Current area.
The names of the young Gasper family, who apparently were very popular people who made an impact in their home community, somehow became public knowledge less than 24 hours later by Saturday afternoon, along with photos of them posted all over social media and in news articles. As well, a GoFundMe online crowdfunding campaign was launched by a family friend with the intention of building a playground in the family’s memory. At the time this issue went to press, just a hair under $150,000 had been raised.
This same level of attention aimed at the Rosetown family by provincial media outlets can't be said about the Swift Current woman in the other vehicle.
I understand that this was such a shocking loss of life, particularly of a family that was so young, but I just feel that releasing their names and photos and not doing the same with the other driver tips the scale as far as the "public sympathy factor" goes.
A part of me also questions just how those names became public knowledge, because media were originally told that *none* of the names involved in the crash were going to be released by the RCMP.
I learned a long time ago as a reporter that perception can be everything, and to be honest, the articles recapping what happened come off "emotionally one-sided" because now we know who the family from Rosetown were, along with photos and comments from people who knew them, and the massively-successful GoFundMe page.
The woman from Swift Current is almost an afterthought. Or at least she was until a week after the crash, when a CBC article identified her as Carolynne Gould, a retired teacher who was well known in the City of Swift Current and was one of the first female wrestling coaches in Saskatchewan.
As a reporter, I'm fully aware that when there's an emotional story right in front of you waiting to be told, you run with it. But you also shouldn't treat any other victims as a one-sentence afterthought.
I would hate to think that this kind of ‘one-sided reporting’ by outlets around the province will cause some people to believe that Gould was at fault without knowing the facts first, but like I said, public perception can be EVERYTHING with a news story.
Truth be told, I’ve already overheard comments from people around Outlook who are laying blame with the Swift Current woman. That’s too bad, but I guess you can’t really fault people for letting pure gut emotion take hold with their beliefs.
It's absolutely terrible that a young family died on that highway, but let's not forget that a 71-year old woman – a mother and a grandmother – died on that highway too.
So let’s not metaphorically hang someone before we know all the facts, okay?
For this week, that’s been the Ruttle Report.
