This comment was removed by the site staff for violation of the usage agreement.

This comment was removed by the site staff for violation of the usage agreement.

I can agree that it is unusual to see a slander case in family court, but that is still not enough to make it a news story. There are plenty of unusual things that go on in this town, but they don't make a story.

We may not agree as to the news worthiness, but I bet we agree that Attorney Brian Rogers accomplished what he set out to do--inform a jury pool.

You don't have to answer that.

This comment was removed by the site staff for violation of the usage agreement.

Edith,

I'll jump in here and stress this point:
Oddness/Unusualness – Because slander lawsuits, particularly those filed in a family court setting are unusual.

This is the key factor that made this case warrant a news story. Of course, readers are free to debate the merits of every news story.

We encourage all of you to tune in at 10 a.m. weekdays when we discuss these stories at our news meetings and to vote on our front-page polls. We regularly survey community members about their interests.

I too believe that this should stay private between the two parties. Why put it out there to taint a jury with public opinion? Is there going to be a story in the paper for every dirty divorce that occurs?

This comment was removed by the site staff for violation of the usage agreement.

This comment was removed by the site staff for violation of the usage agreement.

This comment was removed by the site staff for violation of the usage agreement.

Gheni,

Thank you for your explanation. However, I must ask again, why is this a news story? You say:

Proximity-- Because the lawsuit was filed in The Crossroads
Lots of lawsuits are filed everyday in the Crossroads, and we don’t see those in the paper.

Currency-- Because divorced couples often find themselves fighting over child and spousal support
The real story there would be the divorcing couple who is NOT fighting over custody and support.

Conflict-- Because it involves a legal fight between two people
Could be the first clue why there is a divorce, no new news there.

Impact—Because the outcome of this lawsuit could set a legal precedent
Who told you that? This is not the first military couple to get a divorce, have money issues or file a lawsuit.

Human Interest— Because this story could effect how exes go about collecting child/spousal support in the future.
I seriously doubt it.

Oddness/Unusualness – Because slander lawsuits, particularly those filed in a family court setting are unusual.
This is the only place where you might come close to having a news story, but the lack of the other reasons you cite negates it.

Just because this story meets your criteria of being news worthy, doesn't necessarily mean it is newsworthy. This is more in the line of National Enquirer & to be quite blunt serves no purpose except to air the dirty laundry of the two adults who chose to end their marriage.

EdithAnn,

At least it's not a 3 legged chicken story. Remember the Victoria Advocate also has a tendency to "develop" news by interviewing people in coffeeshops.

"This just in (deet), (deet), (deet) (ole time news sound) it has been found that several of the cafes in town are using canned apples in thier apple pie! Oh the humanity!" And what would you like as a headline tomarrow?

Good morning,

I’d like to address your questions regarding why this is a news story. There are eight major values that determine newsworthiness - prominence, proximity, currency, timeliness, conflict, impact, human interest and oddness/ unusualness. This story meets at least six of these values:

Proximity-- Because the lawsuit was filed in The Crossroads
Currency-- Because divorced couples often find themselves fighting over child and spousal support
Conflict-- Because it involves a legal fight between two people
Impact—Because the outcome of this lawsuit could set a legal precedent
Human Interest— Because this story could effect how exes go about collecting child/spousal support in the future.
Oddness/Unusualness – Because slander lawsuits, particularly those filed in a family court setting are unusual.

Let me know if you have any more questions. Thanks for reading.

To bad the VA didn’t do a story on my ex wife’s divorce accusation of me touching her inappropriately.

Please don't judge unless you know the whole story. This was a happy marriage interrupted by many emotionally draining deployments. They signed up for it, but we've all done things with the best intentions that did not pan out. Let's be supportive of our military and their families. They carry a burden for us and we need to love them, not criticize them.

He is current with his child support but behind on his spousal support. She is unemployed time for her to get a job/. I am still wondering why this story was even posted ????? Oh well nothing surprises me anymore

This comment was removed by the site staff for violation of the usage agreement.

Vic. Advocate this is ridiculous. Why is this news worthy? This is by far the low of the low for the Advocate.

I'm curious as to why this is a news story.

Is this the new standard? I don't care if either party contacted the Advocate to seek publicity, or if the Advocate tracked them down--why is this a news story?