Lincoln Journal Star

I understand the need for the Lincoln Journal Star to get revenue from advertisers and can tolerate the use of “wrap around” sheets on the “A” and Sports sections which must be removed before reading. But the use of “stickers” is another matter. It reached a new low this morning with a sticker advertising Nebraska baseball season tickets pasted over the picture of an 11 year old girl on a monument at Mahoney Park who was killed by a hit-and-run driver there in 1986. This article was the papers “front page, above the fold, lead story” and to have it blemished with the sticker goes beyond common decency. Reporter Riley Johnson wrote a very heartfelt story on the unsolved tragedy and of the ironic meeting of the 11-year-old girl’s father with another victim of a recent unsolved hit-and-run accident in Lincoln. It was shocking to see the front page so blemished as if by graffiti.

Public media has a tremendous impact on the public, especially in a democracy. So often it is the “little things” and small changes over time that contribute to the decline in what is acceptable by the public. There is already discussion on the future of the printed word and the lack of sensitivity by publishers will hasten the time of their demise.  If it is necessary for the Lincoln Star and the University of Nebraska to continue to use such stickers, I suggest they have some sensitivity as to where they are placed.