By Anner Harpham

The brutal death of a child is one of the most difficult stories for journalists to cover.

We become accustomed to writing and photographing disasters, mayhem and violence and those left in the aftermath. Even though such stories are part of the ebb and flow of news, I'm not sure anyone ever becomes totally comfortable covering them. We try to tell these news stories not simply as dispassionate observers, but from a human perspective, capturing the emotion of the moment and describing the effects on the victims.

We deal with families who are distraught, in shock and grieving. We hear horrific details. We must balance victims' privacy with the public's need for information. Victims and their families did not ask to be thrust into the public spotlight, but become public figures with all that that entails because of the most difficult of circumstances.

Over time, journalists develop a pretty tough skin that allows them to tell the story without letting it get to them. Most of us aren't shocked by much anymore.

But then comes a story like that of 11-year-old Kahealani Indreginal. Like our readers, the reporters, editors, photographers and others involved in the coverage of her disappearance and murder struggle with understanding how this could have happened in our community, while at the same time we've had to go about our job of reporting the story.

The talk in our newsroom over the last 10 days has been subdued. Absent has been the usual praise for a story well told or an eye-catching photo. The talk has been of the terrible details as they have become known. Many of the people involved in the story have children, some the same age as Kahealani.

The day after Kahealani was reported missing, a reader complained we underplayed the story, that it should have been on Page One. The first story on Kahealani's disappearance was played on Page B1 on Dec. 12. She had been missing since late Dec. 10, but police were not told until 8 a.m. on Dec. 11. Police issued news of her disappearance through a CrimeStoppers news release at 3:45 p.m. on Dec. 11. At the time, there was no indication of foul play.

In light of the information made available to us from police, I don't quarrel with the decision to put the first story on Page B1. It was not yet clear whether the girl was a runaway or a victim. When it became clear on the morning of Dec. 12 that police were very concerned about her, the story was moved to the front page for our afternoon edition.

By the afternoon of Friday, Dec. 13, everyone's worst fears were realized when Kahealani's body was found.

The story dominated Page One during the next two days. Over the weekend, we heard only a few complaints from readers. One called our stories "yellow journalism" and another said we were overplaying the coverage. Another said we were adding to the family's burden by writing in such great detail about them.

Over the course of last week, more details have emerged about Kahealani's death, and they have made for grim reading. We don't write these stories lightly or delight in gruesome details to make a story sensational. We have felt that it was important to be as specific and detailed about what happened and why, rather than leaving the events open to speculation and rumor.

And although we know that these stories usually mean an increase in our circulation, the discussions on play of stories, headlines and the tone of the stories revolve around how much we know and what is fair, not on what sells. Headlines on major stories often are collaborative efforts, with several editors writing and rewriting until they have the right tone and emphasis. While I have heard many a long — and sometimes loud — discussion on what a headline should say, I have never heard an editor worry about what would sell the most newspapers.

We know there is a range of opinions among readers on what they want to know about a story. And this is not to say our coverage on this difficult story has been perfect.

But this is one story in which almost everyone involved — readers and journalists — have the same goal: trying to understand how this horrible crime happened.

Senior Editor Anne Harpham is The Advertiser's reader representative. Reach her at 525-8033 or at aharpham@honoluluadvertiser.com.