Night Thoughts

A blog entry from February 27, 2009

I’m a board member of the San Diego chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists. We sponsor events to help raise awareness of media topics and provide education to current and future journalists. I’m new to the group, having joined the board in December, but so far I’ve been quite impressed with this chapter and its efforts.

My journey to Point Loma last night for “Report Card on the Media” provides a good example. This annual event features a panel of people who were in the news—preferably controversial in some way—and allows them to discuss how they feel the media treated them. The audience is SPJ members and other professional journalists and student journalists. It is taped for local TV, and moderated by a local TV personality.

This year’s panel featured a suburban mayor who was found drunk in his parked car and escorted home by police, the leader of a movement to ban alcohol at San Diego’s beaches, and the lesbian daughter of San Diego’s mayor, who although a conservative Republican on other issues is publicly supportive of gay marriage because of his daughter’s influence.

The fourth guest was the most compelling. Mark Struk was driving up the I-5 a few months ago when he came upon a car accident. Seeing a purse on the side of the road some ways away from the accident, he had his passenger pick up the purse and he dropped it at the crime scene.

The problem is, in the chaos of this fatal scene (Struk said he didn’t know at the time how serious the accident was), no CHP officer saw Struk drop off the purse. Instead, Struk somehow was arrested and vilified in the media as the guy who stole the purse of a car crash victim (who also was 6 months pregnant, making it even more poignant).

Two Marines who were at the scene helping —and saw Struk drop off the purse—later corroborated his story. But this was after he had spent a night in jail and had his picture plastered across every local TV news program and in the newspaper. He says he’s spent $5,000 in legal fees already to clear his name, but he’s still afraid to be seen in public.

The amazing thing about this guy is how calm and humble he was as he told his story and patiently answered questions. Wouldn’t you be angry? After all, he was just doing a good thing, being a Good Samaritan, right? And now he’s not only lost his reputation but he’s out $5,000—and that’s probably not the end of it.

I was really touched by Struk’s forgiving spirit. He clearly was burned by the media’s need to get this story, which if true would have been shocking and appalling, disseminated as soon as possible. But he agreed that a more in-depth analysis—that is, interviewing everyone who had been at the scene, including these Marines, and not just the CHP—could have resulted in truth much sooner than it did. Perhaps he would have suffered less.

But he never played the “poor me” card. In fact, he several times reflected on the life that was lost that day and said what happened to him was nothing compared to that.

Even though last night’s lessons were geared toward media, I was reminded of something much more profound: forgiveness is a choice. The wrongs against us might never be proven otherwise, and the wrongdoers might never ask us for forgiveness, but we can choose to forgive anyway. I don’t know anything about Struk’s religious background or if he is a believer, but I thought he was a wonderful example of Jesus’ teachings to turn the other cheek and approach your “enemies” with love.

Many there last night probably gleaned how they should be more careful in reporting. I walked away with a stronger determination to forgive. And I don’t think this new resolve was just because we were at a Christian college, although the beautiful lighted cross at the exit as I drove out did seem to be cheering me on.

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Night Thoughts

A blog entry from February 27, 2009

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