There's no way you're going to come out on top and look good. Santana was advised by her supervisor not to comment for this article and declined to do so. In their minds, the newspaper is the triggering factor in the death. Clifton says there is not necessarily a connection between the Plain Dealer article and Rose's suicide the morning it ran. Bob Steele, director of the ethics program at the Poynter Institute, says blaming journalists oversimplifies the complicated factors that lead to suicide.
Some people point fingers at journalists as being part of the cause.
It's not as simple as saying, obviously it's journalists' fault because they were investigating them. Readers have criticized the Plain Dealer for relying on anonymous sources in its initial story on the Rose investigation. That finding exacerbated the public's anger, Cleveland State's Powers says. The only reason they ran this story is because of who he was. Powers says he sympathizes with the Plain Dealer's predicament.