Amish: relevant in headline of crash story?
STLtoday’s lead headline for much of yesterday morning was “Amish travelers among Hwy. 40 crash victims”
As we discussed our Page One display for this morning, copy editor Roger Kuechler criticized that online approach. “So they’re Amish, why’s that worth being in the headline?” His point being: we wouldn’t have used Catholics, Methodists, Jews, etc. as descriptions in a headline.
I countered that the fact that the Amish, eschewing automobiles, had to hire a driver to get to the funeral of a relative in Tennessee offered more of a human interest story. Somehow not being behind the wheel conveyed more vulnerability, more of a sense of helplessness. I say sense, because in this horrible accident, it appears no driving maneuver would have mattered.
As it played out, the story focused more on the truck driver that authorities say caused the crash. (One caller chastized us for this approach, saying it appears we were trying to make the driver a sympathetic character.)
While Amish life is a bit of a curiosity – “Witness” and “Kingpin” spring to mind — Amish probably wasn’t a word to use in the headline.
Yesterday, we also had a newsroom conversation about using the photo we used on A1 today. Amish don’t want to be photographed. (From Amish.net: In addition to the scriptural admonition to not make “graven images” of themselves, the fact of posing is most of the issue. The Amish do no want to draw attention to themselves by posing for a photo or image.)
Ultimately, we decided that it was okay to use the photo because none of the family members outside the car at the hospital were recognizable. The photo had some news value, some urgency, in showing the arrival of worried relatives.
Steve Parker is the deputy managing editor for news, and oversees the Post-Dispatch's front page. STLtoday's online news editors are on his newsroom team. Parker has been at the paper since September 1980. 
Your photo of the Amish family members outside the hospital was certainly more respectful than the video KSDK broadcast of a female victim being carried into an ambulance with her skirt pulled up to her waist. I doubt anyone needed to see that.
It’s my understanding from having lived near several large communities that Amish and some Mennonites eschew photography for what they consider vain reasons, but they generally have no problem with tourists taking pictures or the occasional news crew. (Remember the horrible shooting at that schoolhouse in Pennsylvania a couple years ago?) I agree that identifying the victims was a necessary part of the story just like it would have had the van been carrying a school sports team or some other group. That these people are from a community where traffic accidents are practically nonexistant makes it even more compelling.
My heart goes out to all the victims and I wish them a speedy recovery.
Considering what happened and their belief system, the headline was fine. As for them not wanting photos taken, I’m sorry, but they walked into the arena of modern society. As such, they’re subject to normal life here. If I go to a foreign country, I’m expected to be familiar with their laws and customs, and abide by them, aren’t I?
Since the Amish were identifiable by their dress, the headline was appropriate. If it had been a van on nuns in habits, and if the headline did not mention they were nuns, I am certain that your copy editor woulod have insisted they be identified as nuns and not as a group of single women.