Our first story about the number of children in the county who had been diagnosed with cancer was published nearly three-and-a-half years ago, when we dug deep into the concept of a cancer cluster.
The community was worried. The data showed that the rate of childhood cancers was high, but there was no link between the cases, and that the rate of other types of cancer was lower.
Later in 2015, we reported that county health officials were asking the state to look again for any links between the cases of cancer. The outcry was a result of an Indianapolis television station report that questioned if a high cancer incidence rate in the county could be linked to unsafe water in the Franklin area.
In the months and years since then, the Daily Journal has stayed true to its mission of community service, defense of individual rights and serving as a watchdog of government. Our hearts go out to the families affected, and the families worried about the environment and health of the city.
We have been committed to covering this issue, and published dozens of stories, documenting the emotional and hard-fought challenges of families when a loved one is diagnosed with cancer, explaining how federal laws were changed to give communities more tools to investigate increased incidences of cancer and breaking down complicated data to make sense of it for the community.
As journalists, we question everything. We don’t just accept the findings of a study — we look at what the study included and didn’t include, how it was conducted, how the results compare to previous studies or data in other communities and what happens next. Context is king.
Social media users, or other central Indiana media, can flash a number or a statement from a report and draw conclusions, and create fear, without providing all the information.
We will never settle for that.
In working to understand complicated issues and help the community, we take time and use great care. Social media is amuck with opinions, but is not the place to get the comprehensive information you need about your community so you can make the best decisions for your family.
We not only ask what’s been done, but we look at what hasn’t been done. We ask why. We ask what is next, then we hold people accountable for taking those steps. When new information comes to light, we ask more questions.
One story isn’t the defining answer to those questions. We break issues down, wait until we have the best information and all the context, and publish stories that help readers make sense of issues, form their own questions and take action, if they want.
Each cancer diagnosis is heartbreaking, especially when there is no discernible cause; and parents’ distress is understandable. Questions have been raised about contamination at sites in Franklin, what’s been done to clean up the sites, who tests the site, who is responsible and whether any of the sites can be linked to causing cancer.
We’ve published about a dozen stories on the environmental investigations and the data. At the same time, we’ve published hundreds of stories about families’ struggles with cancer, capturing their heartbreak, their joy at a successful treatment, their financial needs and their spiritual journeys.
A month ago, the families who are leading the charge and the nonprofit group they’ve brought on board were given significant space in the pages of the newspaper. In a June story, they explained what they’ve done and asked for the public to get involved in their effort.
We’ve repeated the residents’ consistent concern that the childhood cancer rate was not bad luck or a coincidence, but rather was the result of contamination in the city, be it from the water or in the air. We have given them a voice to call on their friends and neighbors to put pressure on local and state officials to force action. We have been a platform for them to say that government organizations would not simply clean up a possibly contaminated site because it is the right thing to do, but rather it would take tens of thousands of loud voices.
We told the public of at least three ways to get involved in the cause in an expansive story.
Two days later, we covered a forum the group arranged in Franklin, when test results weren’t available yet, and again gave them a voice to call on residents to force government agencies to look at the possibility of contamination and its impact on the health of residents. Both stories were given extensive space and dominant presentation on Page 1.
Initial test results became available, and it was time to ask what was next. We documented how Mayor Steve Barnett had been meeting with representatives of the local group, had contacted federal legislators and was putting a plan in place to get even deeper into the data and asking state and federal environmental and health officials for further review and more testing.
We also needed to capture the panic that the issue was causing in Franklin.
We published another Page 1 story. This was but one story in what is an ongoing issue. We immediately began talking about what questions we still needed to ask and what stories to tackle next.
The story included updated information on the state’s study of whether there is a cancer cluster in Franklin.
Our story said: “The number of childhood cancer cases was 123 during that 15-year period, compared to an expected number of 113, which was not statistically significant, the report said. The state continues to monitor the data, the report said.”
But a reader said that by including that data, we had insulted all people who have had cancer and called the victims insignificant statistics.
We know that this is a difficult, emotional issue, but our extensive coverage shows that we certainly don’t view any of the victims as insignificant. We’ll keep proving that to you as we continue to cover the issue.
Every story published in the newspaper can and should be questioned. The give-and-take with the public and officials is as old as the concept of a free press. We want to help the community work through issues and find common ground, solutions and best practices.
We will continue to do the right thing.
Our children are in this community. We walk the trails, play in the parks, take deep breaths on beautiful days and drink the water. Our children, too, have disabilities. We’ve lost our loved ones to cancer.
We want to help. We want to do our part. We want to find solutions, wherever they are, so that no family ever has to watch a child suffer through cancer or bury a child after this dreadful diagnosis. We want to lock arms with the community and tell all the stories, from all the perspectives. Everyone, from parents, to residents, to elected officials, doctors and scientists, deserves to have their voice heard.
It is our job to ask the questions.
We’ll keep asking.
