As I am sure you know, I was one of the people who helped administer CPR to Mpozi on July 3. What I find interesting, however, is that you have not once bothered to contact me to discuss what happened that evening. I also know that you have never contacted the woman who was there with me giving him mouth-to-mouth. You never talked to the person who talked with the 911 operator, or the person who helped me get Mpozi to the floor, or the person who was on the floor monitoring Mpozi's pulse. In all there were no fewer than 5 people on the floor with Mpozi, yet you have never contacted any of us. I have never served as a news desk copy editor, so I can only hope that your reporting during your Star tenure was more thorough.
On Ruth's claim that it took several minutes to respond, Jackson calls it an "outrageous lie" and points out that Dennis Ryerson was the first to reach Tolbert's side:
When I read your first account of this past Saturday's blog you you quoted someone as saying it was "several minutes" before anyone responded to Mpozi. That is the most outrageous lie I have heard in a long time from anyone older than my 3-year-old. No fewer than three people were at Mpozi's side within 20 seconds that night. Sunday you backtrack and say a woman was"instantly" at his side when, in fact, Dennis Ryerson was the first person to reach Mpozi. I'm sure that 20 seconds seems like a long time, and I know from reflecting on that situation that perhaps it was. But as one co-worker told me, "When I looked up and saw the sound I heard was coming from Mpozi, I sat back down." I think that's how a lot of us felt that night knowing Mpozi's personality. My first reaction was that he was goofing off for the benefit of the two interns he was talking to. After attempting to get Mpozi to respond to us, we had him on the floor within a minute.
Jackson makes it clear that he is angry with Ruth, and that he does not believe that Tolberts died because of any "callousness or indifference" of his employer as asserted by Ruth. He concludes, "Continue your crusade, Ruth, and congratulations on recovering your soul when you dropped off your employee ID at security on June 30. Hopefully sometime soon you'll also discover where you left your heart." Wow!
Jackson's account pretty much matches up with the account another person in the newsroom shared with AI previously. I'm surprised Holladay actually published Jackson's e-mail. Sadly, Ruth's still sticking by her position that it took too long to aid Tolberts. As she says, "The system was f_____ up." After this Ruth, I think your readers are going to begin thinking you're the one that's f_____ up.
8 comments:
Ruth really got this one wrong. Almost feel sorry for her. She must have let her anger towards her former employer get to her in this instance.
Probably right.
But I knew Mr. Tolbert. This is all pretty painfull to rehash.
As much as I usually prefer daylight on these kinds of situations, can you and Ruth leave it alone for awhile?
Gladly anonymous. I think Ruth is the person you really need to direct that to--she's engineering this train (wreck).
Ruth = bitter nitwit.
Her column was never very good.
I will say the same to her...not picking on you, AI. Sorry if you took it that way.
I'm pretty sure the coroner will look into it, and the truth will come out, whatever the truth is.
It's just kinda raw, for those of us who knew him. I don't really know what happened, except his smile, talent, personality and his laughter are gone. And it's sad. If Gannett's greed had anything to do with it, they need to be prosecuted. But if it didn't, I think he needs to rest in peace.
To all concerned: Like all of you, I want to know the truth, which is why I posted Michael Jackson's email. Obviously everyone experienced this tragedy from his/her vantage point.
My initial post was based on honest reporting from interviews with people who were there and who confirmed what I had written after it was posted.
I understand that those present feel guilty in the aftermath of Mpozi's death. No doubt I contributed to that sense of guilt by examining a horrible night.
I am sorry about hurt feelings.
But I am not sorry about raising questions and demanding answers and action.
My goal, and the goal of anyone who cares about working conditions, is improvement at the Star -- a functioning emergency phone system, responsive security, CPR training, AEDs.
Why is that too much to ask? Why shouldn't Gannett -- with all its riches -- have those protocols in place?
If it had, none of this discussion would be taking place.
Michael assumed responsibility that night. Where is the company's sense of responsibility?
Why is everyone willing to settle for so little?
Mpozi believed in justice. The least we can do is try to make something right come out of his death.
Ruth-I don't think anyone disagrees with your goals. It is not at all clear, though, that the lack of emergency protocols in any way affected the outcome of the response to this emergency. The assertions you made in your original post are at odds with those with first-hand knowledge. Some of these individuals are obviously hurt by your characterization of the response because they believe everything that could have been done was done. To them, your animosity in general with your former employer clouded your judgment in evaluating this issue as being news-worthy.
Thanks for your response, Advance Indiana.
All I can tell you is, the information I initially gathered, including a description of Mpozi's labored breathing, the confusion at getting an outside line, the timeline, all that, also came from eye-witnesses. The emails were sent to me without permission to publicize them, so I have not.
From the beginning of the aftermath of this tragedy, people inside the building raised questions about the phone system not working and the need for CPR training and AEDs.
Michael noted in his post that a woman could not get thru to security and had to run downstairs to reach the guard. Obviously two people (eventually) got through on two landlines, (I think) but how long did that take?
The Guild has raised concerns -- in writing, in several formats -- about the phone system that night.
It is important to know that an IOSHA investigation is ongoing and I am sure plenty of people will be interviewed. The autopsy results are still not available -- maybe another 5 weeks?
For now, I agree, I need to give this a rest. I don't pretend to have all the answers, just lots of questions, still. And a fervent hope that things will change -- as you acknowledged, that's a worthy goal.
I hope the IOSHA interviews, etc., will clear up the confusion that still hangs over this situation.
Again, AI, thank you for this forum.
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