The other day I had an interesting conversation with someone about whether or not the following is an improper headline: “Illegal accused of burglarizing several houses.”

My impromptu debate opponent said it is was sensationalism to use “illegal,” and that we should have just used “man,” since his crime had nothing to do with him being here illegally.

After about 30 minutes of friendly debate, we agreed to disagree.

However, I posed the question to my Facebook friends, some of whom have been in the media at some point in their lives — although most of them have gone on to more lucrative fields. Following are some of their comments. Feel free to weigh in on the issue either on our forum at www.jacksonvilleprogress.com or by sending me an e-mail to editor@jacksonvilleprogress.com.



From a hometown friend, who is now a teacher

Illegal accused of illegal act. Does the double illegal make him legal? (That was one of the first comments, and my favorite!)

I’m just a reader who would more likely read the story with your headline than the proposed one.



From a fellow journalism student who is now a

college volleyball coach

There IS a reason why I left the field of journalism! Facts or sensationalism? Hmmm, what did Susan teach us? It didn't make much 'sense'! Lol Good luck with the morality of journalism coverage.



From a former newsroom coworker in Baytown

If his residency status had something to do with the crime he allegedly committed, it goes in the lead. If it doesn't, then work it in somewhere after the second paragraph.



From a former Jacksonville Daily Progress reporter

Also to consider: because he is an illegal, he will have a different “punishment” for the crime, most likely. Like a jail term followed by being deported. Dunno — I think it's the editor's call. *passes the buck back to ya!*



From a high school classmate and fellow church member growing up

The way I see it, you're in a “No win” situation. Half of the population (actually more) is probably wanting to call him an outstanding, falsely accused citizen. The other half is thinking something totally different.



From a friend who is an instrumentation tech

If he truly is an illegal then even if he did not buglarize the home he is still breaking the law. That is not an opinion, that is fact. Please feel free to look the term illegal up in your dictionary.



From my junior college

journalism professor

(Former newsroom co-worker in Baytown) suggestion has clarity, fairness, and perspective. That said, I'm not sure humans are illegal. They might be in the country illegally, but I'm not sure the U.S. has officially declared humans illegal.



From me

So, if someone whose documentation proves him to be a child molester is accused of robbing a house, y'all wouldn't try to work that into the headline? The two crimes have nothing to do with each other, yes, but it's a criminal accused of another criminal act. What's the harm in pointing it out in a headline?

Guarantee you if I, as an editor, was nabbed for something breaking into houses, the headline would read, “Editor accused of breaking into houses.” It would entice people to read the story, more than the headline, “Man accused of breaking into houses.”



More from my junior college journalism professor

I think the bigger picture has to do with current issues surrounding immigration. The “Editor analogy” doesn't hold very well since there is not a national debate surrounding editors or journalists. I'm not saying the information about residence status doesn't belong in the story. I'm saying it doesn't belong in the headline because putting it in the headline suggests some correlation between status as an undocumented resident and being an accused burglar. The headline would suggest a relationship that does not exist.



And, finally, more from me

Being in the trenches day after day for years now perhaps has dulled the sense of textbook correct and incorrect. I do believe my analogy of “Editor arrested ...” works in this case. Of course, there is no political-correctness movement for editors, as there is for just about every other group. As an additional bit of info, we do have significant population of illegal immigrants, and our citizenry is concerned.



So, here’s my solution

“Man suspected of burglarizing houses” or wait, that's prejudicial toward men ... “Person suspected of burglarizing houses” ... wait, that's prejudicial to humans ... “Lifeform suspected of burglarizing houses” ... but, maybe that leads some to feel insecure about living in a house ... “Lifeform suspected of burglarizing residence?”

• • •

As with my debater, in the end, my former journalism teacher and I agreed to disagree!



Richard Nelson is editor of the Jacksonville Daily Progress.