Monday, we turned our mission of serving the public upside down.
One of the many decisions we made before sending Tuesday's paper to the printer was to place a page 3 photo taken at a drug and alcohol rehabilitation center. The photo was meant to complement a story about The Healing Place of Wake County, which strives to provide support for homeless men through a recovery program.
Instead of adding to the article, the photo, which depicts men working in a planning room, flagrantly violates the trust the paper aims to establish with sources and readers.
The three men, who chose to remain anonymous, stand in front of dry erase boards covered with the names of patients. And those names are not only visible - they're completely legible.
A series of irresponsible miscommunications and careless actions by editors led to our running a photo that identifies the very people that this clinic, which trusted us enough to permit a reporter and a photographer to tour its facilities and speak with patients, strives to protect.
Various editors checked the page, and each had the chance to take a closer look or to suggest a change. None did.
The names weren't clear in the computer program we use to edit pages. But it should have given us pause to consider a photo that included private information - even if it didn't seem visible.
It should have made us think twice about the trust we could violate through such a careless, stupid and preventable mistake.
We've learned a valuable lesson. But it's one we shouldn't have experienced at the expense of those people to whom we are responsible.
