The lawsuit filed against Vashon Island School District by islander Kelly Wright is likely the first suit to ever be filed against the small school district and it is not an easy way to start. Islanders on both sides of the issue are reeling as both the district and Wright exchange blows in what seems like a never-ending supply of court documents that have been filed in U.S. District Court.

Many islanders express their thoughts and frustrations with The Beachcomber through letters to the editor and, in this issue, some of the letters call out the biased nature of the most recent story chronicling the case. In last week’s Beachcomber, there was a story about a counterclaim that had been filed against Wright by Vashon High School principal Danny Rock’s lawyer. The document is countering Wright and suing her. The story was written from the documents filed by Rock’s lawyer, documents that are inherently biased. Lawsuits are not objective, and they are not unbiased; they are built upon one-sided persuasive claims that come from both the defendants and the plaintiffs. Considered together, these claims should have overlap, and often somewhere in the middle lies the truth.

The same concept applies to media coverage of cases. While The Beachcomber aims to be as fair and unbiased as possible in all coverage, every story about a lawsuit will not be this way. However, all of the articles together should paint a more objective story.

Wright’s April 2016 case against the school called out the school and its officials, it alleged wrongdoing, and the school district superintendent decided to respond with an email to school families. As the case has progressed, each side has become less likely and less willing to respond to the allegations of the other. Last week’s story was an example of that. The Beachcomber reached out to Wright’s attorney, who declined to comment, but the article did include a response from Wright that was found in Rock’s lawyer’s claim in which she defends the practices of Vashon Natural Medicine.

This counterclaim will most likely be followed up by more documents from Wright and her lawyer. Those documents will likely be biased against the school district and the named officials. It’s the way the legal game is played and The Beachcomber will report on that step as well.