[marktwain]

“What do the media style and dogma guides actually say? If you think the victim/perpetrator might be black, you MUST use ‘alleged’?”

There is an AP stylebook rule that says, as I recall:
Racial identification should not be included in any story unless such reference is clearly relevant to the story or when part of a detailed description of a fugitive.

http://gunwatch.blogspot.com/2014/10/are-black-people-carrying-guns-puplic.html

[Fresh Wind]

There is an AP stylebook rule that says, as I recall: Racial identification should not be included in any story unless such reference is clearly relevant to the story or when part of a detailed description of a fugitive.

My response was specifically in regard to the ubiquitous use of the weasel word "alleged".

But it doesn't surprise me at all that the AP (Absolute Propaganda) would impose a diktat like that.