Missed Opportunity

“Everyone makes mistakes.”

While true, this platitude accomplishes little of value. An attitude of “oh well, nobody’s perfect,” may seem magnanimous on the surface, but does it actually serve the common good? Does it start a necessary conversation? Or does it simply enable the transgressor to avoid the hard work of acknowledging the harm they have caused and of making a commitment to do better? 

A mistake was made on April 29, 2022, when the Daily Mining Gazette published a letter to the editor written by Gail Wickstrom which caused harm to the community, the reputation of the DMG, and, perhaps, to individuals who were traumatized by the letter’s vulgarity. Calls were made and emails were sent to the paper voicing displeasure in the choice to print this letter. A group was rallied and ready to pull together a public demonstration. Complaints were taking issue with the paper, the managing editor, and the author of the egregious letter. In other words, harm had been done and a significant number of people were not going to stand by without doing something about it. 

Among those who did something about it were four Copper Country women who, on May 3, met with David (Daver) Karnosky, former managing editor of the DMG and the one who made the mistake of publishing the letter. Daver had been through a couple of hard days of non-stop attack, and he didn’t always respond appropriately to the criticism, choosing to offer excuses or explanations rather than apologies.

The invitation to meet resulted from an email exchange with Daver on May 2 where he ended his message by saying, “I have a lot to learn.” Indeed, he did… and still does. So, we decided to help him with that. The purpose of the meeting was not to beat him down. It was to help him understand why publishing this letter was a big mistake, to help him see the various ways individuals, the community, and the paper were harmed by this mistake, and to support him in his efforts to offer a proper apology.

It was a meeting full of hard truths, intentional listening, and, most importantly, grace. All of us, including Daver, left hopeful that this unfortunate incident could actually be an opportunity to address the persistent misogyny that society tolerates even when it is detrimental to both women and men. We were hopeful that this was a mistake that the paper could learn from, and Daver committed himself to write a heartfelt and humble apology and undertake a thorough review of the editorial policy of the paper. We were hopeful that if enough people committed themselves to do the hard work of doing better, this thing that wounded us and divided us could draw the community together for healing. 

Unfortunately, the opportunity for healing and growth, for Daver Karnosky and the community, was missed when the DMG decided to take the easy way out. A paltry apology was published in the paper on May 3. Daver Karnosky was fired on May 4, and the editorial policy was published later that week, exposing its weakness but not offering any commitment to revise it. It seems there is no will to put in the hard work of doing better. 

Nonetheless, there was a moment of grace at that meeting on May 3.

We want to thank Daver for his willingness to meet and his openness to learn. It gives us hope that, despite the missed opportunities of this moment, his mistake may have led to some growth and healing after all.  

René Johnson, Carolyn Peterson, Sarah Semmler Smith, and Emma Dorst