Small town baffled, alarmed at 10-year-old girl's disappearance' june 27th
'FBI joins search for missing 10-year-old girl' june 28th
'National Guard chopper joins search for missing girl' june 29th
'Girl's mother: 'In my heart, I know she's alive' june 30th
'Missing girl's father facing heart-rending deadline' july 6th
'Small town of McCleary not giving up on missing girl' july 13th
'Every day that goes by is just agony' july 15th
'Fresh eyes join search for missing girl' july 28th

STORIES FROM THE DAILY WORLD LOCAL PAPER If you dont have something nice to say
Sunday, July 5, 2009 1:14 AM PDT
On Tuesday night, I drove home from a long day at work, dragged my tired self into the house and hugged my wife and kids. To me it was just like any other night — until I heard my son laugh at me and say, “Let go of me, dad! Geez!”
Suddenly, I snapped out of a state of mind I didn’t even know I was in. You’ve all been there — when your subconscious is processing something stressful or “deep” so intensely in its dark recesses that you drift off into inattention without even realizing it.
At that moment I realized what my subconscious was chewing on: Missing McCleary 10-year-old Lindsey Baum, and “what if that were us?”
“Don’t let go of that kid, Dan. Don’t let go.”
Like many of you, I keep trying to imagine myself in Lindsey’s mother’s shoes. It helps us as editors make decisions about stories, their content and what to cover next.
Problem is, that exercise can turn all too easily into a tool for being overly judgmental of Melissa Baum. Some of the comments I’ve heard, or read, over the last few days are good examples of a bad habit we all develop at one time or another — assuming that, if we were in her shoes, we’d be as composed and clear-minded as we are now, and would do everything according to good judgment, common sense and be well out ahead of any possible criticism.
The problem is that none of us is that good. Not one.
Of course Mrs. Baum and the family of Lindsey’s friend down the road are second-guessing their choices. They’re human. We don’t need to remind them — Lindsey is missing. Isn’t that reminder enough?
Online anonymous
When The Daily World began the online comment feature on our Web site, we didn’t fully comprehend one distinct aspect of the Web we now know all too well: Anonymity can breed viciousness.
Call me old-fashioned — and I know I’m not the only one here — I prefer a well-crafted letter to the editor over a short, snippy comment tacked to the end of a story. It’s not that online commenters don’t have valid points of view — many times they do. But, when you have to sign your name to an opinion, like a letter to the editor, folks tend to be a bit more careful and respectful.
Anonymous commenters can say just about anything they want. And, believe me, in the case of Lindsey Baum, they have.
Some of the more callous comments came after we printed a picture on Tuesday of Melissa Baum sitting on her porch with a story updating the search for her missing daughter.
“I couldn’t imagine just sitting and waiting. I would be out night and day looking for my child,” wrote someone who goes by the screen name “uggyb.” “The pictures of her sitting on the porch with her coffee mug in hand — I just don’t get it.”
For the record, we all know a picture takes seconds to snap. It’s a huge leap to assume that short frozen moment in time is representative of how Mrs. Baum is spending her days. But the comments don’t stop at the picture. Many harp on two basic ideas: That Mrs. Baum should be out searching ceaselessly, and that Lindsey should never have been allowed to walk home alone.
“Yes, it sort of is your fault Ms. Baum for letting your child walk alone at 9 p.m. So the blame does fall your way a little bit,” wrote “haras76.” “And why did the people whose house she was leaving let her walk home alone?”
“I’m even more angry at the mother of Lindsey’s friend,” continued “uggyb.” “How dare her to not make sure this little girl made it home safely.”
“It is the fault of her mother, she was not supposed to leave her child alone,” echoed “fromCA.” “I have 3 children ranging from 7 yrs to 1 yr old. I would never let them out on their own even during the day.”
Now, I don’t begrudge these commenters for thinking about these issues. In one way or another, we all have. But, that’s not the point. Compared to the task of finding Lindsey Baum, all these criticisms are pretty petty.
Or, as online commenter “jsn1963” responded to the critics: “Yes the mother should be helping, (who said she wasn’t?) but try to understand how upside down her world is right now. We all react differently to this type of thing.”
Well said, jsn1963. I wish I knew you.
More to the story
In a story we printed the following day, Melissa Baum told our reporter, Steven Friederich, that police officials have asked her to stay at home for the time being. Maybe we should have put it in bold print and all capital letters — though we’d probably be accused of editorializing.
We can all think what we want about how we’d react to being asked to do that, but, if the experts ask you to do something, you should do it.
“They are there because we asked them to be,” Grays Harbor Undersheriff Rick Scott confirmed Thursday afternoon. He stressed the importance of having the family by the phone, ready to take a call that might provide a tip to Lindsey’s whereabouts.
“The family from day one had come to us and said, ‘What can we do?’ ” Scott told me. “It was driving them nuts to just sit there and do nothing. We told them, ‘We’re going to give you the hardest job … to stay home.’
“They have abided by our wishes.”
My wish is for Lindsey Baum to make it home safe and sound. Beyond that, I have no comment.
Dan Jackson, The Daily World’s city editor, can be reached at 537-3929, or by e-mail at djackson@thedailyworld.com