Duke lacrosse: McClatchy editor is not believable

Melanie Sill, the exec editor for news at the McClatchy Company’s Raleigh News & Observer, has told readers complaining about the paper’s biased and inflammatory coverage of the Duke lacrosse case (Ninth comment on "Duke lacrosse comments" thread):

"We're not in the business of news coverage that condemns or takes a side."

The N&O broke the Duke lacrosse story with a report on Mar 24 in which it referred seven times to the accuser as either “the victim” or with the possessive “victim's” without ever once preceding them with “alleged” or “reported.”

The following day the N&O headlined across five columns on page one a very sympathetic interview with the accuser who was granted anonymity.

The N&O explained it granted anonymity to “victims of sex crimes.”

I’ve now read most of the NY Times stories on the Duke lacrosse case looking for instances where the Times told readers the accuser was “the victim.”
I haven’t found one.

An editor at the Durham Herald Sun said in situations like the Duke lacrosse case his paper avoids calling the accuser "the victim" because "it’s not fair to the other person or persons." The editor added:

If you see where we used "victim," than it got by us. If you point it out, we’ll make a correction.

And then there’s Sill telling readers:

We're not in the business of news coverage that condemns or takes a side.

Sill is simply not believable