“Nude photos cause stir at jail,” read the main headline on the front page of a recent Daily Sentinel. This headline was one example of the Sentinel emphasizing the sensational in news selection and presentation.

The story should not have been on the front page of any serious newspaper, much less emphasized with a lurid headline. The real topic of this story was a “humiliation” claim being filed against Mesa County. Allegedly, jailers had improperly opened and distributed nude photos mailed by an inmate’s wife to her husband.

However, the first words in the Sentinel headline were “nude photos.” Thus, the topic of the headline sentence was not the $100,000 claim, nor the alleged violation of privacy, but some event involving “nude photos.”

This example was not the first instance of the Sentinel choosing to emphasize sensational news items. The Feb. 5 front page featured a report about the expected boom for adult entertainment and prostitution in Denver and Minneapolis-St. Paul during the 2008 party conventions. This item had very little news value. Meanwhile, a preview of Colorado’s “Super Tuesday” precinct caucuses, far more relevant, was tucked at the bottom of the page.

An especially good older example was a May 23, 2007 headline on page 7A reading “Porn star claims trooper dropped drug charge for tryst.” This Enquirer-caliber material had little relevance beyond Nashville, Tenn., which is where the event took place. Why did this story make the national news section of a Grand Junction, Colorado, newspaper if not just to make eyes widen?

Does the Sentinel expect to be respected as professional journalism, or something close? If so, a greater effort should be made to avoid pandering to lurid curiosity.

MACKENZIE GIBSON
Grand Junction

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