Can't Disbar the Media

[SixofNine]

Howard Kurtz hits a home run about the Duke lacrosse case in his media watchdog column (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/15/AR2007041501004.html?nav=hcmodule) in the WaPo.

In all the coverage of the sexual assault charges that were finally dropped last week, very few have talked about how the media slimed them. That miscarriage of justice was aided, abetted and amplified by media that unfairly turned the men into a national symbol of pampered, out-of-control student-athletes. Prosecutor Mike Nifong might lose his law license over the botched case, but the media never get disbarred...

The combination of race, crime, sports and a blue-chip university proved irresistible for a business that thrives on creating national soap operas. Did the indictments, as the team's lacrosse season was canceled, have to be covered? Of course. But media outlets framed the story as one of privilege vs. poverty, black vs. white, athletes above the law -- if, of course, it happened.

This is exactly how the "news" stories in the WaPo itself always framed themselves.

Television showed the homes of the players' parents. Newsweek put two of the defendants' mug shots on the cover. Sometimes the word "alleged" was dropped in the process. "I'm so glad they didn't miss a lacrosse game over a little thing like gang rape," Headline News host Nancy Grace said.

[ethics]

1. WP does the same thing (as you stated).
2. This isn't true just for this rape case but ANY rape case. This was just too politically correct to pass up--white rich boys as villains, poor black female as the victim.

[Sierra Mike]

I presume you meant poor black female as the victim, right?

SM

[ethics]

Yes, sorry, edited.

[Steve]

Someone with a lot of money needs to back a case like and file slander and libel lawsuit that completely destroys, eliminates and wipes out the careers of the responsible persons and forces their publishers into complete bankruptcy liquidation.

Then - and only then - will people think twice about the difference between opinion and fact, between journalism and rumor mongering.

[Copzilla]

Some people are STILL calling for their heads to roll. They're talking miscarriage of justice and crap.

Folks, this isn't just about the media, but about liberalism gone all wrong. This is about a segment of society that has so overblown the black victim mentality that they're willing to sacrifice people, anyone, on the altar of political correctness.

I watched an interview with Seligmann (sp?) this morning, and he made a very valid point - He said that what scares him most about the entire ordeal was that in spite of all the proof he had about his innocence, he STILL barely escaped prosecution. But what if he didn't have all that proof but was accused anyway? His ass would have been a goner, on the basis of her testimony alone. That's how bad they wanted this wrongful conviction. It scared him that 30 years of his life was at stake, and saved by that mere chance.

My addendum to this - it would have been done with the celebration of the liberal PC black victimization crowd. It's why OJ walked in the face of a huge amount of evidence, it's why the Duke guys were charged and persecuted, it's why Hollywood jumps on the bandwagons of cop killers who are black. It's infiltration of the liberal victimization movement into the justice system, and it's wrong as hell. Justice should always be neutral.

[SixofNine]

Here's an excerpt from a typical WaPo article near the time of the incident:

A once-promising season came to an abrupt end, at least temporarily, this week when Duke President Richard H. Brodhead announced the suspension of all of the team's games in response to charges by a black woman that she was sexually assaulted, sodomized and strangled by three unidentified lacrosse team members at a house party not far from the Duke campus on March 13. The incident has roiled the idyllic Durham campus, exacerbated the school's relationship with residents of the town and raised disturbing racial concerns.

Brodhead said he hoped that the incident would not interfere with Duke's growing ties with North Carolina Central University, a historically black institution. He also expressed concern that the incident could affect Duke's relations with the surrounding community, noting that the house where the party was held is one of 15 properties the university recently purchased in response to complaints about noise and other disturbances caused by parties in off-campus houses rented by multiple students.

Duke students said the tension between students and the Durham community is real. Durham, with a population of 210,000, is the home of one of the nation's most prestigious universities but also is a working-class, former tobacco town with a large black population. "There is a disconnect between Duke and the community," said Jeff Richmond, a 21-year-old senior from Beaver, W.Va. "Duke students think of Durham as a dark, scary place."

[Copzilla]

That sheds a lot of light on why Reade Seligmann stated he wasn't going to go back to Duke, despite their offer to reinstate him. The freaking community activists would still be wanting to hang him high. That's no way to sleep at night.

[Sierra Mike]

But it will likely pave the way for Seligman to become a rich man...this is a case that's simply tailor-made for a hefty out-of-court settlement. ;)

SM

[Steve]

...tailor-made for a hefty out-of-court settlement.See, that's exactly what I hope doesn't happen. This lawsuit needs to be public, it needs to be messy, it needs to expose the malfeasance of everyone involved in this witchhunt in a way that will make the average American think "Hey! That could have been me!"

[Sierra Mike]

I agree, but realistically, it'll be settled out of court.

SM

[Lovehound]

They always settle out of court, and then everybody agrees to keep mum about what the terms of the settlement were. Everything gets sucked into a vacuum and the lawyers laugh all the way to the bank.

[Arc]

At the end of the segments all three of the Duke students accused of the crime by Nifong asked if they thought it was all over and behind them now. One gave what I thought was both a profound and realistic answer. Without bitterness, he said it would never be over because rape would always be linked to him even though he was innocent and cleared. He said that when he eventually died someday the news announcement of his death would include a statement with words to the effect that he was one of the three Duke Lacrosse players accused in the rape of a woman. He said that would be with him the rest of his life. The word rape and the accusation of rape.

He’s right.


The quote above is from the Duke Lacrosse thread that seems relevant to this thread.

There will be an out of court settlement. Neither side wants a lawsuit with public litigation and the issue of legal immunity. Also it means less out of pocket costs paid out by the defendants but in an apparent contradiction, (it's not really) more money directly to the plaintiffs that will be paid quicker and less painfully by a settlement than litigation.

As for the details of what the bad guys did that all ready is pretty will documented and will be further highlighted in the North Carolina State Bar proceedings against Nifong.

Lets not forget that MSM is an equal opportunity disseminator of the news ala anybody who is accused of a crime such as Scott Peterson, Rodney King cops, O.J., or the Duke students. In this case the targets happened to be innocent. But it doesn't matter to the media either way. They will run with the sensational no matter which way it blows.