The closure of the Bay City Cinemas is sad for the owners, for staff and for our tourist town.
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The Bay Post/Moruya Examiner has copped flak over our coverage of this story. Along with the cinema and the family of young cancer sufferer, Addison Wilson-Mitchell, this masthead has suffered the slings and arrows of social media. Some blame the owners’ decision to close on our coverage. Whilst alive to the distress of all involved, including workers now without jobs, we disagree.
In June, we reported on a clash between the mother of a girl with childhood diabetes, and cinema management, over the venue’s strict no-backpack policy. Both sides had ample room to state their cases. That story ran online and in print and remains on our website.
Recently, the Bay Post has also covered Addison’s treatment for neuroblastoma. She was on the front pages of the Post and the Independent and we ran other stories as her condition improved.
So, there were two reasons to pay attention on July 15, when messages began appearing on our Facebook page regarding a disagreement involving Addison’s family and the cinema. Addison’s case was already of interest to our readers; and hers was the second case within a short period of time involving a child with a serious illness.
Several readers alerted us to a Facebook post from a relative of Addison’s family. The family rang a reporter, who interviewed both sides. His story, headlined Cinema clash over sick girl’s backpack, included three quotes from the family and three quotes in rebuttal from the cinema.
Both sides sharply disagreed, but we kept the story short, so as not to descend into claim and counter claim. That story remains online and we stand by it as a fair and balanced report of two conflicting views. The story was created at 2.30pm, hours after the family’s post had gone viral, but was not published until about 3pm. Before that, the Daily Mail Online had published a story, based on the family’s post, later replaced with a longer story.
The Bay Post’s Facebook link to the story was later removed as the volume of comments grew and the standard of debate declined. We condemn the use of social media to abuse or threaten. We wish all parties the best, have deep sympathy for all involved, but stand by our coverage.