Santa deserved better from the R&L

One of Santa’s most-dedicated helpers in the Statesville area had a rough Christmas morning.
Our front-page story on Dec. 25 painted a less-than-flattering picture of the Signal Hill Mall Santa.

And, to hear him tell it, things have deteriorated ever since. He’s been ridiculed, mocked and even had his religious faith questioned because of the way he was portrayed in the article.

After spending some time talking with Santa and others involved in an incident at Signal Hill Mall and reviewing our coverage, I’ve concluded that we didn’t give Santa a fair shake. For that, I’m sorry.

In the article, a father who took issue with having to pay $5 to photograph his children on Santa’s lap complained, saying the mall had misled the public to believe the fee was a donation.

When he declined to make a donation, the father said, Santa and his head elf tried to force him to delete his photos and hand over the money.

Santa and the head elf, who was present for the incident, dispute the father’s account of what happened.

In the weeks that followed, the mall, its merchants association and Santa himself have faced scrutiny and criticism for this unfortunate incident.

After they contacted me, I met with Santa, the head elf and representatives of the mall and its merchants association. Then I began reviewing our work on this story.

I wasn’t at the mall when this incident took place so I don’t know firsthand what happened. As often is the case, our reporter wasn’t there either.

After we learned about the incident, our mission was to speak to all parties — and independent witnesses, if possible — and then give a fair and accurate account of what happened to the best of our ability.

Representatives of the mall and merchants association also feel like they got a bad rap over the donation. Any parent who can’t afford the $5 is still allowed to snap photos of their children, they said.

The donations help pay Santa’s salary and offset the costs of the Fourth of July fireworks display, karaoke contests and other events at the mall.

I’ve concluded that we missed the mark on this story. Although we interviewed numerous witnesses, the article that was published was largely one-sided. The father had an opportunity to air his grievances, but the mall Santa’s version of the events — that the father was loud and disruptive and that he did not chase him — was not adequately reported in the final story. (In hindsight, the accounts of the elf and others corroborated much of what Santa told us.)
For that, we deserve a lump of coal in our stocking.

By Mike Fuhrman