Newton did half of the right thing. He apologized through social media, and that's the lazy way to do it. The reporter was from Charlotte, right? How hard would it be for him to have called her office, or better yet, made time to apologize to her in person? The reporter tells the editor. The editor turns into to a short story. The story gets out in channels other than Newton's social-media accounts. 

I can hear it now. "Mom, dad, I upset somebody at school today and that person knows it. Can I just say 'sorry' on my Facebook page and everything will be OK?"