Logically, you cannot anticipate hurling insults about without receiving some blowback. Garbage in, garbage out. We all know that to be true if we've spent any amount of time participating in these forums.

Is it possible that Coalinga is a horrible place to live? Yes. Did Cynthia have a right to express that? Yes. Did the paper have a right to print it? Yes. Is she entitled to any profits made by the paper that ran her article? Yes. Should she be more careful when posting to public forums in the future? Yes. Is it an expensive lesson learned? Yes. Welcome to the real world, Cynthia!

I would be curious to read said diatribe if anyone could provide a link.

you are on a public networking site broadcasting to the world, telling them a story. you can't complain when they tell a friend (or two)

New Info:

I just came across a report that the appellate opinion in this case (which has not yet been published) DOES remand to the trial court the dismissal of Cynthia's claim that the newspaper's conduct caused her emotional distress (for which she undoubtedly wants financial compensation). So it would appear that the newspaper might wind up paying SOMETHING for their lack of discretion and poor judgment.

Uh oh.

Great Article!! The Newspaper should have asked for her consent or at least given her a heads up. I post my photos online and I hold rights to those so...idk.
she should have kept her profile to "friends only"

I guess the town didn't do much to lessen her hate for it...

"Cynthia Moreno’s family received death threats and a shot was fired at the family home, forcing the family to move out of Coalinga last year"

That's a good way to rally some community pride!

I get that it's all "allegedly" but if this really did happen, how sad and pathetic.

That is why haters have no real friends . They are so caught up in what they hate , they miss what is also there , that is good and precious . It is difficult to learn to balance this inclination .

That is a newspaper desperate for news, and lacking a publisher with common sense.

Having said that, it's all public domain. If you post to an accessible area of the internet, your information becomes everyone's information. Crediting writers and photographers is still good form, and if you make money off the use of someone else's data, you need their permission first. That's the basics as I understand them.

I would have to concur that she could not reasonably have expected privacy given the medium in which she published her article, but the actions of that Vice-Principle were beyond irresponsible. I hope this young woman learned a valuable lesson about the real world, however. I have been retained by clients to sue schools, communities, police forces, health clubs, hair dressers, and so forth. I always TRY to get them to understand that doing so will fundamentally and irrevocably change their relationship with the party being sued...most likely shattering any "friendships" that may have formed. But they quite often are so caught up in obtaining "justice" that they simply assume that the other party will see the error of their ways and everything will turn out OK. It doesn't, of course. Being sued is a miserable, bitter experience. You can't vent your hatred for your hometown and expect your friends and neighbors to take it well -- that is not human nature, and this is not a perfect world.