http://carolinajournal.com/articles/displa...ry.html?id=3798
Media Mangle
Bad Journalism and Forgiveness
Poor early performance of N&O not erased by good reporting later
By Jon Ham
January 01, 2007
As I've written before, Ruth Sheehan, the gender columnist for The News & Observer, was one of the worst offenders in the bad-journalism sweepstakes that occurred last March when news of the Duke lacrosse rape allegations became public. Her "We know you know" (I cringe as I write the words) column was possibly the lowest journalistic point in this whole affair, as it bought hook, line and sinker the improbable story line that Durham DA Mike Nifong and the exotic dancer/student/mother/saint accuser peddled.
As the realization that the original story was bunk began to dawn on Sheehan and the editors at The N&O they began backing off and trying to recast themselves as defenders of due process, the Constitution and the American Way. I say bunk. They were only trying to save themselves embarrassment. Some bloggers, notably KC Johnson of Durham In Wonderland and the LieStoppers blog, have excused The N&O.
A notable exception is columnist William L. Anderson. He didn't buy the Sheehan turnaround in August, when he wrote:
Let’s face it; you wanted those accusations to be true, because they fit the leftist political viewpoint that dominates your newspaper. In early stories, reporters referred to the accuser as the "victim," not the "alleged victim" which is supposed to be the journalistic standard for these kinds of stories.
Like Anderson, I can't, and won't, forgive Sheehan, The N&O or The Herald-Sun for their pandering to political correctness, just as I can't forgive the newspapers that went with the flow early in the civil rights movement while a few brave ones took the dangerous and unpopular course of defending civil rights. They may have come around later, but the stink of journalistic cowardice will always be with them.
Today, in her latest column, Sheehan tries to move further away from her original reporting. While she calls herself "naive" for believing the early story, she doesn't apologize for her damaging dispatches. In fact, she proudly defends here irresponsible journalism:
I was one of the hopelessly naive who fell — hard — for Nifong's original depiction of the case.
In statements the State Bar now says violated ethics rules, Nifong described in detail the horrors of the alleged gang rape, including an attempted strangulation and racial insults.
Like others, I was outraged. And I wrote about it. I make no apology for that. It is not my job to wait for cases to be resolved and then walk through the aftermath and shoot the dead.
She defines her job in the negative, but what IS her job? Is it to believe all charges brought by prosecutors, or only those brought against those she despises (meaning those she views as privileged? Did her acknowledged date-rape incident more than 20 years ago prejudice her and affect her writing? Why was she outraged? Outrage shows she had already convicted the players in her mind.
Is that what she thinks her job is? She says it's not her job "to wait for cases to be resolved" before flying off half-cocked. If that's what her editors deem her job to be, then her 2006 performance evaluation must have been stellar. And does it bother anyone that one of the state's major papers is employing someone as a local columnist who is hopelessly naive? Columnists are supposed to be experienced enough in life to give us insights that we might not have ourselves. Naivete is not among the skill sets I used to look for when I was hiring columnists.
I admit I have a bias in this too. All my kids played lacrosse and I go to almost every Duke home lacrosse game. But when I first learned of the rape allegations (at a lacrosse game, as it happened) my first reaction was, "Well, it sounds bad, but let's see what happens. We don't know the whole story." Maybe my pro-lacrosse bias prompted that reaction, but, all in all, I think mine was the more measured, responsible and professional. If The N&O, its editor Melanie Sill, its columnists and even its reporters had taken that approach early on, I'd have more respect for them than I do now.
http://www.newsobserver.com/580/story/527634.html
Letter:
Published: Jan 02, 2007 12:30 AM
Modified: Jan 02, 2007 02:30 AM
Nifong's mess
In view of the N.C. State Bar's accusations against Durham District Attorney Mike Nifong (news story, Dec. 29), several questions come to mind:
1) What could Nifong's evidence possibly be that would convict the Duke players of the remaining charges?
2) If the remaining charges are dropped, what can be done:
• to reimburse the three young men and their families for their pain and suffering and monetary sacrifices?
• to give back the lacrosse team their season, their coach, and their chance of winning a national championship?
• to repair Duke's reputation? (Early admission applications are down by 20 percent and its quite likely contributions to the university and its endowment will decrease.)
• to erase the hits Durham has taken in the national press?
• to alleviate the racial tensions that have been exacerbated by this case?
3) Was there anyone in the police department or the city government who ever questioned Nifong's actions?
4) And, in the linguistic tradition of the terms gerrymander, lynch, and luddite, how long will it be before "nifong" will be generally used to connote "to be treated unfairly or maliciously" as in, "Man, you got nifonged," or perhaps, "I feel like I've been nifed!"
Daniel Berenson
Durham
http://www.newsobserver.com/580/story/527635.html
Letter:
Published: Jan 02, 2007 12:30 AM
Modified: Jan 02, 2007 02:30 AM
A menace to justice
Doggone it! The writer of the Dec. 27 People's Forum letter captioned "Too mild on Nifong" has stolen my thunder. However, to take his comments a step further, I believe Mike Nifong has succumbed to the awesome power bestowed upon him as district attorney and is driven to convict rather than to find justice. His egocentric approach to the "Duke rape case" should earn him tar and feathers and a ride out of town on a slick pole.
As far as I am concerned, he is driven by his ego and is a menace to the justice system. He must be corralled.
Charles T. Trent
Cameron