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October 24, 1996
Letter to the Editor
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Your headline article on the Gammage case, Oct. 24, "Did victim pick fights with police?" was nothing short of character assassination. Your lead paragraphs lend credence to the idea that it was Mr. Gammage who was prone to violence. Was he arrested for disorderly conduct orresisting arrest? Not according to the record. But you felt comfortable enough to report on the statements of police officers at a time when many of those who could present Mr. Gammage's character in a positive light are, in fact, under a gag order.
Oh, you did include quotes by Thomas Seals, Mr. Gammage's uncle, but even then you buried those statements within the article on page A-19. Certainly you are aware that most readers don't read an article all the way through, and certainly you are well aware of the impact your paper hason shaping public opinion when you printed such a headline. In a classic example of turning the victim into the criminal, your intent to discredit Mr. Gammage couldn't be more apparent. Dirty, dirty, journalism. There's a color for that. It's called yellow.
Catherine Daher
Pittsburgh, PA
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