Maine police flack breaks cardinal rule

By Ted Cohen/Patch.com

The chief mouthpiece for Maine's largest police force is blasting Fox News for doing ... just what exactly?

When Fox theorized that a woman murdered in Union, Maine might be a victim of a serial killer, the spokeswoman for Maine State Police went postal.

“Floating unverified claims without facts fuels fear. It’s irresponsible,” Shannon Moss whined to the Bangor Daily News.

Moss added that "releasing partial or premature information risks compromising the case.”

Actually no one did anything of the sort.

As a former reporter, Moss should realize that she isn't the media's boss.

Moreover the press isn't paid to withhold information.

To the contrary, it's supposed to put out there however much or little it knows and let the public make the judgment about its veracity.

The media doesn't need schoolmarm lectures from a government mouthpiece whose only job is to keep information from the public.

Moss is an expert on that score.

In fact, more than a week after paddleboarder Sunshine Stewart, 48, was mysteriously killed near a small Maine campground, state cops have given the public no clue as to where their investigation stands.

It's high time for the police spokeswoman to spend more time doing her job and less trying to school journalists on how to do theirs.

Editors note: Ted Cohen is a veteran reporter and former staffer for Maine's largest daily newspaper.