Saturday night, August 13, was a grand night for 25 4-H youth who stood in the spotlight of the Sale of Champions at the Indiana State Fair and watched their entries auctioned. Eight new records were set as, despite a dismal economy, the agricultural community came together to support these young people.

Just a few hundred yards away another drama was taking place, one that made headlines around the world and has changed the Indiana State Fair forever. The 2011 Fair was the Year of Soybeans, but it will forever be remembered as the year five people died when the stage collapsed at the Sugarland concert.

A highly localized gust of wind ahead of an approaching severe thunderstorm, which caused no other damage on the fairgrounds, hit the stage and caused much of the light and sound equipment to fall into the audience. The media hysteria that has ensued may have caused irreparable damage to one of the best run, state fairs in the nation.

From the outset, the news coverage of this tragedy has been negative and accusatory. Hard facts were difficult to come by during the first few hours after the incident, so suppositions and rumors filled the airwaves. Eyewitnesses to the event were badgered into questioning the actions of State Fair officials.
In the days since, the drumbeat of stories has topped newscasts and dominated the front pages of newspapers.

During the memorial service for the victims, news helicopters buzzed so low they drowned out the sound system of the event.

Still overcome with emotion from the service, Fair Director Cindy Hoye was mobbed by reporters peppering her with accusations. Local television news operations have been trying to outdo each other on breaking new and more sensational angles on the story.

The lives and circumstances of not only the victims, but the 43 people injured, have been investigated in extreme detail. All of these tactics are part of today’s, get the story at any cost, style of reporting. But, in this case, is it necessary?

When there is evidence of gross negligence, a cover-up, criminal intent and profound stupidity, perhaps this kind of approach to the story could be justified. But there is no evidence of any of these things. With the benefit of 20/20 hindsight, we can second guess the decisions made by those who had to make them on the stop, but that does not – and should not – warrant this kind of vengeance journalism.

As one outspoken farm wife told me, “They would bite their own arms off to get a story … there is blood in the water and the sharks are closing in for the kill.”

Most farmers have an appreciation for the dilemma that faced State Fair officials that Saturday night. There were thousands of people in the grandstand anxiously waiting for Sugarland to take the stage. The sky was clear, but dark clouds on the horizon heralded the approach of a severe storm. The National Weather Service had issued a thunderstorm warning and the radar showed the storm to be about 20 minutes away.

“We have to make on-the-spot decisions about the weather all the time, and it ain’t easy,” one Knox County farmer told me. “Sometimes you are right, and sometimes you are wrong.”

Time and multiple investigations will eventually determine if state officials took proper action or not. But the stain that the negative news coverage has put on the State Fair will remain for a long time.

Jay Howard, the dean of College of Liberal Arts and Sciences at Butler University, told a local television station that he believes the incident will serve as a salient event in Indiana’s history. People will long remember what happened, he said, and, if there is a hint of bad weather at future events, people will head for the exits.

Gov. Daniels has tried to emphasize the positive aspects of this tragedy by focusing on the heroism of those who responded and helped those in need.
Dr. Chuck Hibberd, head of Purdue Extension, told me there was a 10-year, 4-Her front and center at the concert. He had just come from a livestock show at the fair. When the equipment fell into the crowd, he went to work helping rescue victims and, using his first responder training, helped stabilize victims until help arrived. These kinds of stories have been drowned out by the howling of the talking-head jackals.

While you would not know it from listening to the media or reading the social media comments, there are still a lot of people who support the Indiana State Fair. Surveys that were conducted the day the fair reopened revealed that those who came to the fair felt perfectly safe and believed the Fair is a great event.

It is important that those who support the Indiana State Fair stand up and make their voices heard. As a result of this incident, there will likely be calls for reforms and resignations. There will be some who want to do away with the Fair altogether.

Just like the livestock that comes to the Fair, the State Fair itself needs care and feeding. It also needs experienced leadership dedicated to providing the best possible fair experience. If you support your state fair, in Indiana or any other state, be prepared to fight for it.

The views and opinions expressed in this column are those of the author and not necessarily those of Farm World. Readers with questions or comments for Gary Truitt may write to him in care of this publication.