Another strange silence from Baptist Press

Updated 11/3/11: LifeWay has added a Q & A page on Sammy Nuckolls. The page answers questions about LifeWay's relationship with Nuckolls, their policy concerning speakers, and directs any Fuge attendees who think they might have been victimized to call the police who are investigating. Nothing yet from Baptist Press.
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I don't expect Baptist Press to jump on every bit of salacious information that bubbles up around the Southern Baptist Convention but their credibility is eroded when they pass on stories that are pertinent to SBCers, to the SBC's entities, and to SBC churches.

Take for example the story of the arrest in Blytheville, Arkansas last week of evangelist Sammy Nuckolls for video voyeurism.

The local Arkansas paper reported the story last Thursday: Mississippi man accused of video voyeurism.

A prominent Baptist blogger, FBCJax Watchdog, reported the story this past Saturday: SBC Lifeway's 2011 Youth Camp Pastor Sammy Nuckolls Arrested for Filming Woman Showering in Her Own Home

Associated Baptist Press reported the story yesterday: Evangelist charged with video voyeurism .

There is a virtual flood of stories (many linked here ) from news outlets and bloggers yesterday with more to come today and this week.

Baptist Press reported...well...nothing so far.

Before one accuses ABP or the Baptist blogger of gratuitous journalistic voyeurism for delving into this, consider that the evangelist was one of LifeWay's FUGE, a big youth camp, pastors and had been involved in the camps for years. He was also popular with youth events and in churches. This makes it news of interest to SBC pastors, youth ministers, and anyone concerned about the SBC's handling of sexual offenses.

LifeWay was concerned enough to immediately scrub their online sites of the evangelist's presence.

Is not this something that Baptist Press needs to report? Other news outlets are reporting that more victims are coming forward.

I like Baptist Press. I read Baptist Press. But I don't trust Baptist Press to report all matters that are newsworthy.

In this case, I look for BP to eventually get around to reporting on this, dragged kicking and screaming to do what they should have done already.

Come on, BP, you can do better than this. We can handle bad news and may even learn from it.