Warning: Graphic content

Steve Smith felt that some of the details in today’s story on Joseph Duncan’s criminal history were a bit gratuitous. Smith said it’s sufficient, for example, to say that Duncan raped a 9-year-old at gunpoint without creating “barriers to readers.”

Others disagreed, saying the details were necessary to understand the depth of Duncan’s sexual psychopathy. One editor said she had a grain of sympathy for Duncan after reading his blog , and that sympathy evaporated after reading about his criminal history.

Smith said that even without the details, it’s clear that we’re dealing with a sexual psychopath, and that we have room to be more general without sacrificing impact.

It’s an ethical question to which there are no easy answers, and one we will continue to revisit as this story develops.

Another quandary

We, like most papers, have a policy of not naming victims of sexual assault, especially when they’re children. At this point, however, it’s impossible to go back and preserve Shasta Groene’s anonymity in this regard. The Associated Press attempted to advance their coverage with the children’s names redacted in an effort to conform with policy, but have evidently given that up.

So here we are with another balancing act: How to continue to report the news without further traumatizing a young girl from our community who has suffered more than any of us can imagine.

A theme

Observant readers may have noticed that all of our section front covers - except sports - had pictures of trees on them today. Also, if you look closely at today’s Page One centerpiece, you will see the yellow circle on a tree indicating the ax marks mentioned in today’s story about the Montana campsite where remains believed to be those of Dylan Groene were found.

Coming up

We’ll have more details on the Groene case as they develop. Also, a look at a new (and promising) effort to domesticate the elusive huckleberry, and the impact of layoffs on the Spokane Fire Department.