The story has gone national about a University of Cincinnati college student from Leawood, KS, who actually got a stalking protection order against her parents.
But no media outlet or reporter did as thorough a job covering the strange story better than reporter Lisa Gutierrez at the Kansas City Star even though she was unable to speak with Aubrey Ireland or her parents for the story. It is very tough to put together such a thorough story on a breaking news item.
Gutierrez, a features reporter at the McClatchy-owned paper since 2000, added details about the story that other media outlets were not able to uncover, such as details of her high school and a variety of other items of particular interest in this area.
Here is a write-up from Gawker, the Huffington Post and Fox4. It seems as if KCTV didn’t cover it and KMBC handled it in five paragraphs.
Gutierrez has won numerous journalism awards during her career for investigative reporting by the Associated Press, the National Newspaper Association and Gannett.
A 1983 graduate at the University of Kansas, she co-authored a book about famed psychologist Dr. Phil McGraw titled “The Making of Dr. Phil” in 2004.
DYSFUNCTIONAL FAMILY
This is basically a story about a dysfunctional family living in suburbia. Truth be known there are many dysfunctional families living in suburbia these days. So I beg the question: how many legitimate news stories and truly engaging human interest stories went uncovered because The Star chose to delve into the sleazy world of TMZ-like material? And why should KCTV touch the story when its reporting partner, The Star, was already handling it?
No, I would fully expect The Star to be able to turn out a longer story since it has immediate access to its own back files and relatively easy access to friends and neighbors of the Ireland family. That said, I am disappointed that the paper devoted so much time and attention to this matter. Loyal readers deserve better.
PARENTS ARE STORY
As good as the story was, I still feel that it focused on who the girl is and her accomplishments vs. what the whacko parents did. Let’s face it, there would have to been a preponderance of evidence against these parents for the judge to issue the restraining order. I would have like to have known more about their actions. They are the story, really, not her.
Agreed, but this was a story written under a severe deadline. I think eventually there will be much more informatio about the parents and why a court would rule against them.
I believe this could just as easily be a case of a spoiled daughter being cut off financially.
In order for this girl to receive financial aid for her senior year, at least at most colleges, her parents would have had to provide financial information on a FAFSA. If the parents refused, the only way the daughter would qualify for financial aid under DOE guidelines, is by going to court and getting a judge to declare her to be an “emancipated child.”
This isn’t easily accomplished, so the daughter (possibly with help from the school’s financial aid office) had to figure out a way to prove her emancipation. A restraining order against “crazy” parents might fit the bill.
So it could be that spoiled Little Girl is tired of being told what to do, Mommy and Daddy stop the checks, then Little Girl has to figure out how to keep the college money flowing, and does so by trashing the reputation of her parents.
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CAB DRIVER STORY
The front page story from yesterday that really deserved mention was the one about the female cab driver who was brutally attacked by her passenger. It was the lunchroom talk at my work place. And it was written by a damn good reporter in Matt Campbell.
MOST RIDICULOUS THING EVER WRITTEN
This may be the most ridiculous thing you’ve ever written.
You’re going on record supporting trashy journalism with no news value. That you think it’s news to embarrass a local family. You’re going on record claiming that this is deep investigating reporting, and that you think this is the type of work that award-winning journalists should produce.
This is merely a pieced-together article, quoting already-published sources, easily written by… anybody.
You claim it’s “very tough” to write a “thorough” article like this. What’s thorough about this article? What’s new, in this article; what hasn’t already been written? How many times does this article say, “The Star previously reported” or “The Enquirer reported.”
You claim Gutierrez “added details about the story that other media outlets were not able to uncover, such as details of her high school and a variety of other items of particular interest in this area.”
What details about her high school — the details that were already reported? What “variety of other items” — those from a Lexis Nexus search at the library, for past Star articles?
You claim the reporter couldn’t talk to the parents. But the article quotes the PARENTS from the a past news article, and the article damages the daughter’s reputation along with the parents, by making it so unclear about what is actually going on (which begs the question, why is this news, to begin with; who cares what’s going on?)
It’s incredible that you’re actually praising the reporter for her article that easily could have been written by a sophomore at Blue Valley High School who knows how to use Google. When the topic is only expected to be seen on a show low Maury Povich, when people VOLUNTEER to be on the show. When this article merely reminds citizens why they hold people like you in such disregard. What Johnson County family is next, John? The one with an uncle who has alcoholism? The family that goes bankrupt due to unemployment?
This story merely embarrasses everyone involved. It offers no conclusive evidence that either side is being fair or unfair.
I can’t believe that you think this makes people more likely to pay you for advice.
When I wrote that article no other media outlet, including the Associated Press or Huffington Post, had as many details as her story did. And note that I was talking about her putting it together on deadline. KCTV had missed the story entirely and KMBZ didn’t report it until 8 a.m. the next morning most likely after reading the Star story.