Friday, June 23, 2006

Duke lacrosse:Two newspapers report one event

Two daily newspapers circulate in Durham, North Carolina: The Durham Herald-Sun, and the much larger Raleigh News & Observer.

On Mar. 24 the N&O broke the Duke lacrosse story with a report in which it said seven times the accuser was "the victim" or used the possessive "victim's", never once preceding any of the seven with "alleged" or "reported." The N&O says it’s proud of that story and its subsequent Duke lacrosse coverage.

On Mar. 28 the N&O and the H-S both reported on the same protest held the previous day on Duke’s campus.

Let’s look at representative excerpts of the two papers’ reporting of the event. I think we'll learn a lot. Links are provided at the end of this post to both papers’ reports.

First, excerpts from the N&O’s report:

Nearly 200 people gathered outside campus administrator offices Monday to express anger and demand action in response to a rape investigation involving the men's lacrosse team.

The incident has sparked outrage on and off campus about sexual violence, classism and racism.

"I am outraged that there's a silence. ... I am outraged that legal rights are used to quiet this issue," said Meenakshi Chivukula, a junior from Medfield, Mass. […]

"If it were black students accused of that, everyone would be in jail," said Charlie Dixon, a deacon at the Church of Apostolic Revival in Durham. "If it would have been a Duke University student who allegedly got raped by a sports team from N.C. Central University, all heck would have broken loose." […]

Some [students] shook with anger and teared up as they spoke.

"If you see them in class, ask them who did this," said Serena Sebring, a graduate student.

Some students sported T-shirts that said, "Men's Lax, Come Clean." A poster said, "The DNA will talk, even if the cowards of men's lacrosse won't." […]

Sage Amelia Asmus of Durham said she joined the campus protest Monday because she felt for the alleged victim.

"That is not OK -- anywhere," Asmus said. "I don't care how much money you have and what [expletive] sports team you're on." […]
There's much more of what you just read in N&O's report but I bet already understand the N&O's framing.

Framing no doubt explains why the N&O didn't tell readers many students standing among the protesters or passing by were outspoken in their support of the players. Many other students expressed support for fairness and due process.

To learn what such students were saying, you had to turn to the H-S’s report. Excerpts:
Student reaction to the alleged gang-rape ranged from shock to satisfaction with Duke's response to a wait-and-see approach.

"Most people are just waiting to see it play out, waiting until some of the players come clean," said Duke junior Brian Hanson.

Matthew Falvey, a first-year graduate student, said the university's response so far has been "perfect."

"The underage drinking [at the party when the alleged gang-rape occurred] warranted suspension, but they haven't kicked anyone off the team yet, which is good since the investigation is still under way," he said.

Junior Sam Lee said he understands the university's cautious approach.
"No one has been convicted yet," he said. "After they get charged, I'm sure the university will take action and it will be serious."

Hanson said the allegations didn't surprise him because the lacrosse team has a reputation on campus of "being its own fraternity, like a frat straight out of a movie."
The H-S report is far more representative of what happened at the protest and of Duke student sentiment then the N&O's report.

Duke has more than 8,000 undergrad and grad students. On a beautiful Spring day the protest drew at most 200 students, townies and reporters to the center of campus in the middle of the day. What does that tell you?

The protest wasn't an expression of campus and community outrage. It was another in a long series of angry leftist, "to hell with the Constitution" actions that was hyped by a leftist news organization.

But to know that you had to figure it out for yourself or read the H-S.

The Raleigh News & Observer certainly wasn't going to tell you, was it?

The H-S report is here.

The N&O's report is here. (subscription required)
____________________________________________________
Post URLs:

http://archives.newsbank.com/ar-search/we/Archives?p_action=doc&p_docid=110A466F5D3E57E8&p_docnum=3&s_dlid=DL0106062320054905483&s_ecproduct=SUB-FREE&s_subterm=Subscription%20until%3A%2012%2F14%2F2015%2011%3A59%20PM&s_subexpires=12%2F14%2F2015%2011%3A59%20PM&s_username=rno0315

http://www.herald-sun.com/archives/URNDetail.cfm?URN=0512043344

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Some news feeds are picking up a story from The Wilmington Journal and an interview they had with the AV's "Cousin Jakki" as the source of a rumor that Duke alums offered $2 million (story at: http://wilmingtonjournal.blackpressusa.com/news/Article/Article.asp?NewsID=70514&sID=4). Note in part that "Jakki" says she is in an upcoming movie starring DL Hughley called "Do Not Disturb." Only two problems.
(1) DL Hughley is not in the upcoming movie "Do Not Disturb" and
(2) The movie he is that is coming out in is not one in which he stars...
Is this yet another case of rampant fabrication, even as to the smallest and most irrelevant of details?

Anonymous said...

Jakki also said she is a comedian. The article was pretty funny.

Anonymous said...

Yeah well, I still think Jacki shouldn't give up her day job.

I hope this "Jackki" knows that if subpoenaed she will have to reveal her sources, and maybe reveal a familial pattern of lying.

Anonymous said...

The stripper is liar!

First she says she was raped by 20 men, then by five men, then by three men after a frustrated police officer told her to "pick a number!"

First she didn't say she was raped, then after being arrested she said she was raped, then she claimed the 2nd stripper helped with the rape and robbed her, and now she claims that the second stripper was separated from her, but the second stripper stated they were separated for less than 5 minutes.

First she denied being raped, then she said she was only vaginally raped, then she said she was beaten, choked, and kicked after being dragged into the bathroom by three players, but the medical reports stated that there was only mild vaginal swelling and small scraped on her knee and ankle. No signs of a beating.

First the stripper said she didn't have sex for over a week, then she confessed that she had sex with her boyfriend, a vaginal sex toy at the party before the Duke party, with the two guys who drove her to the Duke party, and a "client" the day before. This women was dripping with DNA, non of which was from the boys.

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