Editor,

I find it beyond reprehensible that Jessie Stensland could win an award for her “Did the ‘voices’ drive hime to kill?” story. Just who are these judges who deem her words “gift for readers?”

Are you kidding me? Shall we ask the friends and family of the victims if her repeated insensitive retelling of the story were gifts to them?

I know the news has to be reported. I don’t expect all stories and reporting to be “pretty.”

Too often they are not. Yet, do we as readers, need to be told the harsh and unforgiving circumstances of a crime over and over again? Did the family and friends of the perpetrator need to be subjected to the horrors of the crime in nearly every issue of the paper for weeks?

Can Ms. Stensland feel good about winning an award for this even after she was asked by friends of the family to consider the family in her reporting of this story?

That anyone can ignore the shattered hearts of those hurt, especially in our small community, for what, journalistic freedom? The hope of an award? It makes me sad and sickened.

Luanne Raavel

Coupeville