The article, What's ailing SickKids? How Toronto's world-class children's hospital missed the warning signs , by Rachel Mendleson, was published in the Toronto Star on the 29th of September, 2017. The article discusses the conviction of Brenda Waudby based on the flawed opinion of Charles Smith, a pathologist at SickKids. The article discusses how Waudby fought to regain guardianship of her children, clear her name in court and bring the real murderer to justice. I selected the headline because I believe it is misleading and appears to be dismissive of the impact of Charles Smith's flawed opinion on Waudby physical and emotional well-being and devastating impact on her other two children. Smith offered unreliable evidence, which led police to charge and convict Waudby for Jenna's murder. The case represents a problem of professional misconduct where Smith did not execute his role effectively and follow due diligence to ensure findings from the autopsy report were factual and reliable. Such negligence had a profound impact on Waudby's life and reputation. I feel the article headline should be changed to match the severity of the case and its impact on Waudby. I believe that this outlook offers a clearer and more objective perspective on the case because it attempts to demonstrate the impact of professional misconduct on the lives of victims. The article headline should focus on demonstrating that the negligence of SickKids and Charles Smith led to the wrongful conviction of Brenda Waudby, which has a substantial toll on her physical and emotional well-being. The article headline should also illustrate that this negligence let the real killer go free for years, placing other children in potential danger.
Media Letter
Dear Madam,
My name is ___, a student at _____ University pursuing a master's degree in Criminology. I have taken numerous courses that discuss critical concepts in criminology, including wrongful convictions and misrepresentation in the mass media. I am a reader of the Toronto Star, and I consider your articles to be largely accurate and reliable. I reside in Toronto, and I believe that your news outlet helps inform and educate people across the country.
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I am writing to you today to urge you to reform Toronto Star's practice concerning reporting people who were wrongfully convicted of criminal behavior. As well, I would wish to bring attention to issues that affect the Star's headlines. I often rely on your news outlet as a source of credible information; however, incidents of an unfair depiction of wrongfully convicted people are alarming. These incidences have the power to taint the Star's reliability among expert readers. As well, such incidences can send inaccurate information to novice readers and misinform their inferences. Focusing on these issue is important because it helps maintain the objectivity of the news outlet and protects its perception among readers.
The Toronto Star is the largest online news site in Canada. The outlet is considered a reliable source of information for millions of Canadians because it covers national and local issues. As a consequence, the news outlet plays an integral role in influencing national politics. As a seasoned editor for the Star, you comprehend the importance of headlines in framing stories and impacting how readers perceive these stories. However, I believe that with great power comes great responsibility. Owing to the Star's influence in the country coupled with the power of headlines, you have an ethical obligation to ensure that headlines offer an accurate depiction of subsequent stories. To this end, I would wish to call attention to one of your headlines regarding a story about a wrongfully convicted individual.
I would wish to discuss the wrongful conviction and exoneration of Brenda Waudby.
The article calls SickKid's a world-class children's hospital. I feel this is misleading in this particular context because a world-class health institution would have ethical medical practitioners who prioritize the needs of their patients and their families. Ethical procedures also cover other practices such as performing autopsies. However, the actions of Charles Smith highlight professional misconduct because he did not perform his due diligence when conducting the autopsy report that eventually led to the wrongful conviction of Brenda Waudby. SickKids is also liable for this since it did not follow up to substantiate Smith's autopsy findings. Such negligence meant that the real killer, Jenna's fourteen-year-old babysitter, remained free, which placed other children in potential danger.
Additionally, likening the professional misconduct incident to 'warning signs' understates the impact of the wrongful conviction on Brenda Waudby and her family. The wrongful conviction exerted a toll on Waudby's physical and emotional well-being. Additionally, it destroyed her reputation and made her lose custody of her other two children. The negligence also placed other children in harm's way because it let a killer walk scot-free. Another problem with the headline is it does not mention Waudby, who is central to the article. Her omission appears to sideline the gravity of wrongful convictions in Canada. Wrongful convictions resulting from professional misconduct poses significant problems that adversely affects the lives of many innocent people, such as Waudby. It also shifts focus from the main perpetrators and directs the wrath of the law on the innocent.
You have an ethical obligation to present headlines in a factual manner and in a way that highlights the gravity of the situation. I am therefore calling you to make several changes to the Star's guidelines on wrongful conviction cases. One recommendation is, the Star must stop using misleading terms that have the potential to mislead readers. For instance, the calling SickKids a world-class hospital when the institution and its staff were responsible for professional misconduct resulted in the wrongful conviction of an innocent mother. Another critical recommendation is that Toronto Star needs to report the severity of the case instead of framing the case to make the issue appear insignificant. Finally, the Star should ensure it discusses and highlights the plight of the wrongfully convicted individual. Such an approach would showcase the prevailing issues associated with wrongful convictions.
The purpose of this letter is to urge you to consider the detrimental impact of misleading headlines on readers and on individuals who are wrongfully convicted. Such headlines make the plight of victims of professional misconduct feel insignificant. This may have an additional implication on their emotional and mental health. Wrongful convictions often affect victims for life. You have an obligation to change this narrative through factual reporting and appropriate headlines. Article headlines should offer a voice to wrongfully convicted persons and make them understand that their circumstances are not their fault. This would also help change how they are perceived in the community. I, therefore, implore you to make these changes to change the narrative surrounding wrongful convictions in Canada.
I would wish to offer an updated version of the headline that incorporates the aforementioned recommendations. The novel headline should be, How SickKid's professional misconduct resulted in untold suffering in Brenda Waudby's wrongful conviction and placed other children in harm's way as the real killer roamed free. This headline better highlights the role of professional misconduct in wrongful convictions.
If you wish to contact me on the same, kindly do so via my email _______
