TO THE EDITOR:
With the death of David Shannon on Saturday, The Daily Tar Heel has been a source for the University community to look to for accurate information regarding the event.
However, the means by which the Twitter account has framed the incident has crossed the line. In a recent tweet, the DTH stated “UPDATE: Carrboro police will explore whether David Shannon’s death is related to involvement in fraternity life,” which completely misrepresents the subsequent article.
Most people, particularly on Twitter, are not looking to read the follow-up article attached to the tweet, expecting to receive valid, pertinent information from the 140-character blurb.
Rather than focus on the various leads the police have been considering, your staff selected the one that would shed negative light on the community that has been affected the most.
The complete disregard the DTH has shown for the members of the Chi Phi fraternity and David Shannon’s family is truly appalling.
You have managed to shift the focus from what truly matters, reporting the facts and helping a community to understand this tragedy, to biasedly speculating about what may or may not have happened.
I’m extremely disappointed in the DTH for publishing such inconsiderate material, but even more so at this upstanding University for not only allowing but supporting such publications.
David Shannon was an admired member of the student body, and in this time of tragedy, his memory and the accident, should be respected accordingly.
