Reporter Apologizes for Column

Patti Shea, a metro reporter at The Signal in Valencia, California, wrote a column about her trip into the Dodgers locker room that was published on Aug. 18. We will not reprint the column here since it is not worth repeating. After many complaints, The Signal on Tuesday removed it from its Web site. AWSM president Susan Vinella wrote a letter to the editor (and to Poynter.org, which posted the column) to object to the column. She also spoke to Shea and her editor, Tim Whyte, on Tuesday. Shea sent an apology, which she asked be published on our Web site. It is posted below.

I've spent most of the past two days dealing with the response from my column, which was published on Aug. 18, regarding an experience I had as a news reporter at Dodger Stadium. I had intended for my column to be a tongue-in-cheek, self-deprecating illustration of why I am a news reporter, not a sports reporter. (I didn't specifically say so in my column, but the reason I was at Dodger Stadium that night was to cover pregame ceremonies that involved the surviving family members of slain law enforcement officers. That story appeared on page A1 about a week before my column appeared on the opinion page.)

I didn't think of the repurcussions of the column. Honestly, I didn't and I can't explain why. I only hope the damage can be repaired. My column wasn't intended to degrade the hundreds of women who are truly the pros. All I meant to say, rather poorly I gather now, was that I couldn't do the job they do.

I sent a letter to the Dodger organization on Monday expressing my remorse. Please accept my apology. I honestly didn't mean to make a mockery of the decades-long battles many great women have endured to get us where we are today. After sitting in the press box (which was my first, and now, probably last experience there) I truly appreciate the challenges sports writers -- men and women alike -- face on a daily basis. I know I couldn't do it.

Thank you,

Patti Shea
The Signal