TEMPLE: We are all still, always Columbine

Published September 22, 2007 at midnight

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Eight years later, we still are Columbine.

Which is as it should be.

We who were here on April 20, 1999, and those who came to the edge of the Rocky Mountains afterward, should always be Columbine. We should always remember those who were lost, how we were changed and how we endured.

It may have taken far too long to build a place where we can remember, but now we finally have it.

The work of many has been done. We have college scholarships in memory of Columbine. We have a new library to replace the murder scene. And now we have a memorial. All those who made these things possible deserve our thanks.

We learn what people are made of when they face the most trying of times. It is also the truth that there are days in our lives that define us forever. April 20, 1999, was such a day.

That day and all the days that followed taught me much about my own craft and what qualities journalists need if they are to rise to the challenge of telling a story more painful than can be imagined.

About six weeks after the shootings, I met with each department of the paper, from the library to sports, to talk about what we had learned, what we should have done differently or better and what we should do going forward.

The local news reporters were struggling. They felt it was only going to become more and more difficult to talk to the Columbine families, given the overload of national attention on their doorsteps. They felt we needed to open a bridge to the families because we knew the story wouldn't be going away.

They asked me to write a letter. It was something I had never imagined doing when I became a journalist. Just as I never imagined standing over a table covered with photos of blood and agony. Just as I never imagined hurting parents by making a mistake reporting the condition of their son. All of which I ended up doing.

In the letter, I expressed my condolences as the editor of the Rocky Mountain News, a member of this community and the father of three children in public schools.

"If our reporting has hurt you," I wrote, "I am sorry. As I write this letter, it is clear to me that this story will be with us for a long time. Colorado and the nation are grappling with how such a terrible thing could have happened in one of our schools and what can be done to prevent it from ever happening again. We at the News will try to cover developments respectfully and with insight. However I want to introduce myself to you now so that if you have any concerns or questions you can reach me directly. Sometimes the media are seen as a faceless monolith. Well, in fact, a newspaper is made up of individuals: mothers, fathers, members of the community who struggle with their role and decisions. I am the person responsible for the content of the News. If you feel there's a story we should be telling, a story that's wrong or you would simply like to discuss our coverage, please contact me directly."

And then I gave them every way possible to reach me, and told them how to reach my managing editor if they couldn't reach me.

And slowly, over time, they did. I don't write this to open the door on those conversations. I am thankful that some families took me up on my offer and for what they taught me.

No, instead I write so the young people who contact me about a career in journalism and the parents who ask me whether it's something they should feel good about their child pursuing know that my answer is an unequivocal, "Yes."

After Columbine, all one could wish was that nobody would ever again have to experience such madness and sorrow. Sadly, that wasn't to be the case.

But if we are to learn from the day, among the lessons to journalists is that we must never forget our own humanity, nor should we ever forget the value of our work, why we must be committed to seeking the truth.

If we're not there for our community at its time of greatest need, when will we be there?

If we are not there for our community, who will be?

That doesn't mean journalists should be healers or boosters. That is the work of others. It does mean that we have an important role.

I hope, eight years later, as we dedicate a fitting memorial to the tragedy, that is a lesson we also learned. That questions must be asked, and asked again, even when no answer can be found.

John Temple can be reached at editor@RockyMountainNews.com or by mail at 101 W. Colfax Ave., Suite 500, Denver, CO 80202.

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