First Amendment charge lost in economic crunch

Jan. 23, 2010
Voice of the People

Dear Editor;

While I appreciate the Chicago Tribune’s efforts to report credible and objective journalism, I’m wondering if staff reductions are to blame for failure to pursue the back story on the recent arrest of 63-year-old Myeong Hi Lim, who was charged with prostitution at a Buffalo Grove spa. The story was published on Jan. 20, 2010.

I don’t know this woman or the details of the arrest. However, it appears to me that the circumstance that allegedly caused a woman of that age to engage in prostitution is worthy of consideration. Perhaps addictions are the root cause of her motives to gain money; perhaps economic vulnerability due to job loss, health care costs or family difficulties has forced her into this situation.

Whatever the situation may be, it’s a sorry day when journalists fail to realize the travesty of the case; when they choose instead to print the simple police report. Lim’s story screams for societal perspective, for the whole truth. If it were up to me, I’d start by contacting the Public Defender’s Office—what are the odds against her having money to pay for a private attorney.

I’ve spent the bulk of my journalism career in pursuit of social justice, seeking out the individual story by identifying the hard facts and the mitigating factors that force people to disregard “decent” behavior for the sake of survival. The economic downturn is responsible for the shuttering of the Catholic Explorer and the later elimination of my job as executive editor of Mother Earth Sister Peace magazine and the Justice, Peace and Integrity of Creation blog.

In the face of economic cutbacks, I wonder if it’s possible to rejuvenate the First Amendment charge to tell the whole story. Check out my “Journalism in the 21 Century” YouTube at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uWD8pb41xu8 .

Respectfully yours,
Ann C. Piasecki