'We goofed!"

That headline and an apology could go a long way toward easing the angst created by The Day's sensational "toilet headline" that has been causing snickers around the world about New London and its whale tail fountain.

If the June 7 headline was not bad enough, it was touting an article based on hearsay and misinformation from an ill-informed city councilor who also happens to be in the middle of a political campaign. I equate comments from a candidate on the campaign trail to a poker player - you can say anything you want because it's the final result that counts.

When called to task for this fiasco, the leadership of The Day claimed that deadline pressure and reliance on the veracity of the public figure's information precluded it from any responsibility for New London becoming an international laughing stock. Even though it was 45 years ago when I studied journalism, we were taught to "trust, but verify" and anything we did not see or experience firsthand required at least three sources and, if not that, at least more than one.

The Day has every right, indeed an obligation, to report on situations that represent a risk to the public as events that are newsworthy. We depend on it. However, in this case there was no risk. Nor was there any apparent deadline or urgency requiring immediate coverage.

Isolated incident

The incident, a derelict vagrant washing his befouled trousers in the fountain, occurred on the morning of June 3. Four days later at a City Council meeting, where the reporter heard the misinformation, the city manager stated that the city had turned off the water for testing. No crisis. No urgency. Plenty of time to cross-check facts and file a report like the one in the June 8 edition. There was certainly no cause for the initial headline that screamed tragedy and disaster in the heart of New London.

The Day's own subsequent editorial supports my assertion that The Day's treatment of this event was overwrought. It states the event was overblown. The Day's columnist punctured the notion that there was some danger associated with the water from the whale's tail. What was missing was the "mea culpa" the community and the world need to hear.

Confounding the whole issue is the ongoing need for New London, its social service agencies and public safety professionals to protect public spaces, while assuring an appropriate level of services to the homeless. This difficult and complex task is being addressed, thanks in part to the efforts of Community Outreach Coordinator Peter Schultheis and the leadership at the fire and police departments. This effort has begun to address the few individuals whose public conduct is inappropriate or offensive while assuring the city also provides necessary services for the homeless. This work can only improve the usefulness of public spaces and is worthy of follow-up coverage by The Day.

As my own attempt at sensationalism, and to make a point, I have suggested on my Facebook page and in emails to community leaders that The Day's publisher, Gary Farrugia, be "fired, tarred and feathered and ridden out of town on a rail." But what the community really wants to hear is an admission from The Day that "we goofed."

I've said my piece and I'm fresh out of tar and feathers.

Frank McLaughlin is the downtown investment coordinator for the Chamber of Commerce of Eastern Connecticut, a board member of New London Main Street and a businessman who has invested in the redevelopment of several buildings downtown.