Feature About Stripping Causes Stir

For decades, the Northwest Arkansas Times has been known for its in-your-face style of sensational journalism.

So, we weren’t really surprised to see a stripper profiled as the lead story on Page 1 on Sunday, July 22.

But apparently, a lot of other people were. A dozen calls and letters came in the next day from people complaining that the story glorified that lifestyle.

After going out on a limb with this story, Lucas Roebuck, the Times’ managing editor, quickly scurried back.

He penned a mea culpa that was published July 24 apologizing to the Times’ readers for assigning, editing and placing the story on Page 1. He made sure to tell them that the stripping lifestyle “grates against many of the core values that I hold closest to my heart.”

Roebuck was right in saying that the story was one-dimensional and contained some graphic information that was “in poor taste.” He was also right in saying it shouldn’t have been the lead story that day. The story was accompanied by a large photo of the stripper, her son and a mesmerized dog. We all have a bad day now and then, but as Roebuck noted, bad days for journalists are archived on microfilm, or even digitally, for future generations to look up and read at the library.

The Morning News had a similar backlash a few years ago after publishing a photo of a stripper on Page 1. They haven’t done that since then. But there’s little institutional memory at Northwest Arkansas newspapers these days. Many of the editors are newcomers to the area and have no idea what happened in the past.

We don’t think the Times was wrong for doing a profile of a stripper, though.

Over the years, the Times has published profile stories about people from just about every imaginable profession. Good newspapers tell readers about all facets of the community, not just the facets that are considered palatable to the majority of its readers.

Of course, people are going to write letters complaining about such a story, but maybe it’s good for them to get a little riled up now and then. Some people had rather pretend that such jobs don’t exist. If offended, they have an option. They can turn the page.