An overseas Singaporean student who tested positive for Covid-19 upon his return has accused a journalist of sensationalising his story which led to him to receive numerous negative online comments and insults.
I interned at The Straits Times as a reporter back in 2007-08. Speaking from experience, a story’s angle can change based on the information gathered/presented during the course of reporting.
It was best practice (for me at least) to notify the interview subject if the angle/tone of the article differs significantly from the original and let them have a read through to raise any objections and to alert you to any inaccuracies that need to be corrected before publication. But this isn’t always possible especially for breaking news stories with their shorter turnaround times.
The Kym J. Version 