As mentioned earlier, things were quiet at Byrnes High School on Friday the 13th. It was interesting to compare media coverage of the day. For example, here are a few excerpts from the article in The Greenville News. These are the first sentences from each of the paragraphs…
But 804 students were absent, and Spartanburg District 5 spokesman Barry Reese said he wasn’t sure…
Nor did Reese know…
Reese said he didn’t know…
"I can’t comment on what those children may or may not feel," he said.
Reese didn’t have much information to share…
Reese said he didn’t know why…
Reese said he couldn’t speculate…
I’ve already mentioned about Barry’s stellar performance in handling this situation. So why does the Greenville News make it sound like he’s clueless? I think the answer can be found in this excerpt…
A school official asked a reporter for The Greenville News to leave Byrnes on Friday morning and said all information would be coming from the district.
I’m guessing that either Clark Brooks or Lorando D. Lockhart tried to push their way into Byrnes Friday and stir things up. They were on campus without permission during a tense situation. I would have kicked them out, too. Apparently they didn’t like that, and so their article took a decidedly negative tone. It certainly makes you question the quality of any information that these two might write.