Readers Note: Here’s another post by now retired NC journalist Bob Wilson. Bob was editorial pages editor of The Durham Herald Sun in the pre-Paxton/Ashley days when the H-S was a respected community newspaper.
Thank you for all the welcoming comments that followed Bob’s first post.
John
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When I was a student at the University of Missouri School of Journalism in the late 60s, the Sam Sheppard case was still raw enough for plenty of back-and-forth in the classroom. I wonder today how many journalism students know the difference between
Sam Shepard, the playwright, and Sam Sheppard, the Cleveland osteopath accused of killing his wife in 1954.
What the now defucnt Cleveland Press and other newspapers did to destroy Sam Sheppard’s chance for a fair trial before an impartial jury marked one of the low points of American journalism. It was screaming headlines, biased news reporting, inflammatory editorials, and facts be damned. In such circumstances, Sheppard was tried. It's little wonder he was found guilty.
But in 1966, after Sheppard had served more than a decade in prison, the U.S. Supreme Court, citing the hideous newspaper coverage, overturned his conviction and ordered a new trial at which he was acquited. To see just how reckless the Cleveland
newspapers were
For America's newspapers, the Court’s decision was a stinging lesson ending with the
admonition to “go and sin no more.”
Now fast forward to The Herald-Sun and its editor, Bob Ashley.
Reading the defense motion for change of venue in the Duke lacrosse
debacle reminded me that not every editor and newspaper learned “the Sheppard lesson.”
In pages filled with vivid examples of biased coverage and
editorializing, the defense motion lays out The Herald Sun’s willfully distorted
portrayal of David Evans, Collin Finnerty and Reade Seligmann as rich, privileged white-boy miscreants who deserve a good thumping at the hands of District Attorney Mike Nifong.
KC Johnson’s outstanding “Change of Venue” post includes specific examples from the motion of The Herald Sun’s Cleveland Press style Hoax coverage. Here are a few of them:“In its first significant editorial on these cases, the Herald-Sun stated that not only had a crime occurred, but that those present during the crime were guilty of an additional ‘outrage’ by not confessing to the crime.”
But the players don't have to prove their innocence. That burden rests on the prosecution, which, as most people in this part of the galaxy know, is running on fumes.
--Repeated claims “that the District Attorney must have compelling evidence that has not yet been revealed, evidence that justifies its positions.”
--A pattern of having “consistently and openly mocked any claim of innocence made by the Defendants and repeatedly claimed they are privileged persons with expensive lawyers.’
--Editorial suggestions that “it is up to the Defendants to prove their innocence.”
As for Ashley and some others at The Herald Sun, if Scotty beams them back to 1954 and Cleveland, they’ll feel right at home.
Wednesday, December 20, 2006
Ashley didn’t learn
Posted by JWM at 6:57 PM
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8 comments:
If Kentucky-based Paxton Media looks at the performance of its editors, especially Ashley, it will name Bob Wilson as editor and let Wilson clean house. The Paducah company is watching its investment go down the drain.
Thank you, Bob. A lot of parallels between this case & the Sam Shephard case that I wasn't aware of.
And thanks for your response on your inaugaral thread. Ashley & the H-S - over the cliff indeed, full speed ahead!
The Herald-Sun has been a disgrace to put it mildly. One cannot hit this newspaper hard enough, as far as I am concerned.
Furthermore, the people at the Herald-Sun KNOW what they are doing, and they realize that this case has no merit. They simply are sucking up to Nifong and the black community in Durham.
Has anyone contacted the owners or officers of Paxton Media?
Of course, there is little comparison to the Sheppard case. There his wife was killed---a monstrous crime was committed, and the state didn't then and isn't now looking for the killer. The Duke three are innocent. Serious doubts still remain about Sheppard, as with OJ & Blake, regardless of acquittals.
6:10 am Anon
The parallels or comparisons are in the news coverage of the case - the Cleveland papers went far beyond the H-S. Did you read the press coverage on the site Bob linked? Quite a look into an earlier, pre-Miranda time. "Drag that doctor into the police station and get a confession the way the police are SUPPOSED to do!'
Fortunately there are recent NC appeals dealing with this type of media coverage, and the current threashold appears to be far below the H-S performance.
Bob,
I remember the Sam Shephard case well and was confused when a playright appeared with the same name. I recall how long and hard Dr. Sam Shephard's son fought for justice and to clear his father's name.
It was made into a long running TV show (in black and white, which was one of my all time favorites.
I remember when Bob was the editor. My father worked there and I delivered papers for several years. I now read the HS on line but buy the NO for the details and ads. I also used to write letters to the editors at the HS but now I would not dare to write a letter critizing Kfong. I know I would be arrested for something I did not do and he would get away with it. There is a new sheriiff in town and his name is Kfong. He's a joke and a self-centered idiot!
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