Saturday, April 01, 2006

Duke, Durham and lousy journalism

I guess we’ve all been reading and watching the media frenzy that’s followed allegations of rape, sodomy, and strangulation leveled against some members of Duke University’s lacrosse team.

I don’t know what happened in the house that night so I don’t know enough to say anyone under investigation is guilty of a crime. I just know enough to grant them a presumption of innocence and ask for a thorough and fair investigation.

Now let’s turn to the media and see what some of them know. Here’s part of what Knight-Ridder’s Tom Sorensen is saying:

I don't know much about lacrosse. Maybe it only seems as if a team is not complete unless it features players named Chip, Chad, Carter, Biff and Gray. The monikers suggest khaki pants and wide-striped rugby shirts, late-night keg parties and late-morning lattes, good old frat boys having a good old frat-boy time.

Now a woman emerges, saying members of the lacrosse team at Duke raped her two weeks ago. In the meantime, players appeared reluctant to assist in the investigation - a situation that reeked of rich-boy, frat-boy arrogance and entitlement. …
Sorensen may not know much about lacrosse but he’s convinced he can tell us a lot about ourselves just be knowing our “monikers.”

I’d like to ask Sorensen some questions.

Hi, Tom. My moniker’s John. What does that tell you? Am I “a good old frat-boy” or a fair-minded professional journalist or what?

Do you know much about the meanings of “stereotyping” and “prejudgment?”

I can’t say anything about the lacrosse players but I’ve known a lot of people who were afraid to come forward in certain situations because they feared stereotyping and prejudgment.

How about you, Tom? Do you know any people like that?

Folks, let’s move on and look at some of what Raleigh News & Observer news columnist Barry Saunders knows:
If Duke could pack up and move, it would, eager to escape Durham's reputation as a cesspool of civic incompetence.

Likewise, if Durham could bid Duke "adieu," it would.

There is palpable resentment by townies toward a university many feel exemplifies privilege, noblisse oblige and just plain spoiled rottenness.
If you know anything about Duke and Durham, you're thinking Saunders' remarks tell you more about him than Duke or Durham. You’re right!

Durham has some civic incompetence but so do most places. The city’s a fine place to be; Duke has no wish to leave.

Sure, there are some people around town who regularly spew in Duke’s direction the sort of palpable resentment Saunders exhibits.

Right now they’re spewing more than usual. They’re upset because of what they see as the university’s failure to make sure their kind of justice is done. Judging by letters to the editor, TV interviews and what I learn around town, the number of Durham’s palpably resentful may have increased in the past week or so.

But the overwhelming majority of Durham “townies” are very glad Duke’s part of the community. I know. I've been one of them for more than 30 years.

Many of us are proud to work at Duke. We’re grateful for the wonderful friends and neighbors its helped bring to Durham. Some of us will even tell you we literally owe our lives to the people and services at the magnificent medical center that’s a part of the university.

Say adieu to Duke? Why would we ever do that? We're not palpably resentful.

We know Duke, like any great institution, has faults, makes mistakes and sometimes deserves criticism. But we mean fair and constructive criticism; not the self-righteous, angry, short on facts kind the university’s received so much of lately.

We’re sorry for the current difficulties. We want things to work out as fairly and justly as possible. And we’ll always wish Duke well.

Now about journalists like Sorensen and Saunders:What would an awful lot of us like to say to them?

“Bon Voyage.”

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

What a bunch of buffons.

Can they imagine what Durham's economy would be like without Duke and Duke hospital?

Did they say the same thing during the 80's and 90's when NCSU and UNC had a quite public series of problems with athletes and the police? How about when Anson Dorrance was accused of improper relations?

Finally, have they heard of internet searches? While Duke has, amazingly enough, removed the current teams, the rosters all the way back to day one.

Last year's team names: George Buckley, Randall Drain, Bill Gerrish, Joe Kennedy, David Misler, Mark Meuller, Ben Brennenman, and Ryan Marshall.

http://www.goduke.com/SportSelect.dbml?SPSID=25941&SORT_ORDER=5&SPID=2027&DB_OEM_ID=4200&Q_SEASON=2004

So he couldn't even make fun of the right names. In fact, I went back three years and couldn't find a "prep" name.

-AC

Anonymous said...

This link will illustrate historical evidence that partially supports the supposition that the stripper/prostitute might not be telling the truth.

www.equityfeminism.com/archives/years/2004/000021.html

A 2003 USA Today investigation that looked at cases involving athletes and sexual assault.

www.usatoday.com/sports/2003-12-22-athletes-assault-side_x.htm

Over a 12 year period of time there were 164 high school, college and professional athletes charged with a sexual assault. Two cases involved a gang rape situation. One had charges reduced, the other had the charges dismissed. Both cases involved sex with an intoxicated woman.

I was unable to find a case where a gang rape was committed by well educated members of a highly disciplined athletic organization. In fact I was unable to find any conviction of forced act of gang rape by any athlete. You’d think that there must be one such historical case somewhere with so much hatred and blame.
"
That coupled with the 911 tape of the "I was driving by.." "Me and my girlfriend were walking by..." "I was sitting in front of the frat house when..." all different accounts, all told within a minute and a half by the same woman, Kim, that had a security guard call 911 and hour or so later, from Kroger when she was complaining that her passenger, the alleged victim, refused to get out of her car and was, "drunk or something". Sounds like a pretty big arguement must have taken place for Kim to have resorted to calling the police. In the background you can hear her say, "Maybe they can take her to where she wants to go"

Where is Kim?

Let's not forget that the "victim" said that she said what she said because her father saw her in the hospital and couldn't let something happen to his little girl, then when the father was interviewed he said that when he saw his daughter at home that morning he asked her what's up and she responded "nothing". He had no idea anything was wrong with his live-in daughter. he also said he had no idea she was a stripper/prostitute. Must be pretty good at lying huh?

Something just isn't right.

IIIBNSN

Anonymous said...

Anon -

I don't think anyone, least of all me, is doubting her story. Nor, in my case, particularly, beliving it. I simply don't have enough evidence.

I do think, however, that there is some piling on, hasty judgement, and poor journalism involved here.

-AC

Anonymous said...

I miss Terry Sanford. He would have kept this from spiraling out of control. With all due respect to Pres. Brodhead, he's way out of his depth. You can't learn h9ow to handle southern race relations by reading textbooks in New England.

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