Appalling behavior from the leading newspaper in the area. Below I will post my two emails ive sent out to the parent company LEE ENTERPRISES (information@lee.net)
I'm just looking for support and or advice.
If this isn't an appropiate place to post then i will delete.
We aren't looking to get anyone fired or give us money.
Im wanting an apology to my sister and assurance they,(newspaper staff) won't cause another family grief with their carelessness, as well as lack of inter-office communication. Thats it.
Any suggestions and or support is gladly welcomed.
My .Tribute to Falon
Inept newspaper staff.
- -->>>(information@lee.net) if you feel inclined copy and paste my letter and send it to information@lee.net.....Thanks for reading
To Complaint Dept. There are two emails below that I sent to the southern illinoisan newspaper, online.
Thank you in advance for your time....
I am writing in regards to mine and my families experience with the S.I. online.
It all started when reporters A.Hahn & K.Cates published an article about the MURDER of my niece.
Falon Charde' Taylor. age 21 The article ran Jan 7 Page 1a News.
In this article The S.I. quotes an anonymous 15 and 20 yr old. I posted to the article on the internet when it ran, and never recieved a response.
So I'll try this route. Is it the practice of the Southern Illinoisan Newspaper/Lee enterprises toquote anonymous 15 yr olds when covering a high profile Murder case? Is that a level of commitment associated with your reporters? Then 10th of Janthe paper had to run a correction because they couldn't correctly identify the police man they were speaking with. With whom I'm sure they speak with frequently as the C'dale police force isnt that expansive. Regardless, it is elementary to take the name of the person you are talking to, attach it to their quotes.
Furthermore, I was in the S.I. Carbondale offices and spoke with one Brandon Moore Concerning the misspelling of Falon's middle name which ran in the paid obit section of your paper. Her name was incorrectly spelled Chandre , and should have been CHARDE'. Mr Moore produced a copy of an email from Jackson Funeral home from Lenora, Mr moore incorrectly asserted that he recieved the misspelling from the funeral home in the aforementioned email.
Mr moore went on to say he would allow my sister the chance to add to my nieces obituary as a way to compensate her for the mistake-no charge.
After returning to marion, to talk to my sister she provided me with material to add to the obituary. Upon reaching Mr Moore I was told that the original offer had been retracted and now we would be required to pay half price. That is when i re-read the email from Jackson funeral home to mr moore, which mr moore provided to me. The funeral home did indeed spell Charde' correctly, thus it was the newpapers mistake-soley.
After speaking to someone claiming to be above Mr moore in the decision making process,(female do not have her name), I was told it would be corrected however any addition would have to run through the funeral home.
My problem with all of this is the lack of professionalism i encountered in what is absoloutly the most horrible of circumstances. Quoting an anonymous 15 FIFTEEN yr old to characterize my niece, proofreading is virtually non existent, and different levels of employees giving me conflicting information. At the very least my sister deserves an apology for the roller coaster ride caused by the errors appearing in your publication, as well as the lack of communication/basic decency in your carbondale office.
Money is not the issue. Please get your people on the same page. Mr Moore clearly wasn't in a position to make the call he did. If they need sensitivity training please afford them that.
No family should have to suffer from the S.I. staffs carelessness the way my sister has had to suffer .
Thanks for your time and I respectfully appreciate your attention to this matter.
Thank you in advance for your response.
FS
2nd email sent to so ill online,below, both were sent today.
I sent in a comment and a few questions regarding the lack of professionalism involved with the reporting of my niece, FALON TAYLOR'S murder.
Now I recieve this email from my sister in law regarding an ad that was first to be donated only to have that offer retracted and then told it would now cost 76.00 dollars... please see the excerpt from the email below-->
"Frankie
That was very good. Send it along with a note from me. I spoke to Joan at
the Southern Illinoisan on Tuesday the 16th about getting a donated ad to
thank all the people who contributed to Falon's family in our time of need.
She referred me to Colleen because she was not authorized to make that
decision. Colleen told me that she would check with her boss ( I don't have
the name) and she would get back to me. Colleen called me back and said yes
they would donate the ad. She wanted me to email her the ad and she would let
me know which day it would run so we could get a copy. On the 17th, Joan
called me on my cell phone and said they have decided not to donate the ad
because if they did they would have to do it for everyone. But if I still
wanted to run the ad it would be $76.50. How would the public know if the ad
was paid for or not?
So you are right to send that letter to them. I would like to know how they
plan on fixing it if they will. Anyhow, Marion Daily Republican did donate
the ad and it will run this upcoming Saturday.
I must run now. I also loved the Tribute to Falon on utube. Thanks and I
love ya. Selina"
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So as you can see, the pattern of one employee making a judgement call. Talking to the family about it, only to have it snatched. The stress is unneeded. If not cruel.
Mr. Moore didn't have to offer anything to my sister, I wanted a correction and an apology to my sister. Of course I took Mr. Moores offer to my sister, however, having to tell her about 4 hours later that we would have to pay, even though the paper was at fault was not pleasant.
Colleen approved then disapproved? again, unneeded and borderline cruel, and if everyone were on the same page over at the Cdale plant then maybe my sister would have been spared this ping pong power trip.
I do hope this level of reporting isn't something Lee enterprises or its sponsers endorse. I also hope my sister gets an apology worth getting, in writing.
Again if it were a matter of paying for an ad in your small so ill publication this letter wouldnt be needed.
However this is about one of your companies walking all over my dear sister in her time of unmeasureable loss.
Please get your people some training so no other family has to watch their sister agonize over what may be trivial mistakes to Colleen and the crew in 62901, but they are reprehensible to me.
Thank you in advance for your time and attention in this matter.
Also thank you in advance for your reply.
FS
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