Before the now disbarred former DA Mike Nifong ever spoke publicly about the Duke lacrosse case, the script he’d use to frame three innocent students was published by the liberal/leftist Raleigh News & Observer in a deliberately fraudulent story the N&O said was about a night that ended in “sexual violence.”
The N&O’s “sexual violence” story included an interview with the then anonymous false accuser, Crystal Mangum. N&O senior editors told readers it published only things Mangum said which were already in a “police report” (sometimes N&O editors have used the plural “reports”).
But the editors’ "police report" claim is not true, as this post makes clear. So it's not surprising that in the almost three years since the story ran, the N&O's failed to respond to requests from hundreds of readers and some researchers that it produce a copy of the "police report."
The N&O's claim about a "police report" it used brought to mind this 1897 letter to the editor of the New York Sun:
Dear Editor:
I am 8 years old. Some of my little friends say there is no Santa Claus.
Papa says, “If you see it in THE SUN it's so.”
Please tell me the truth; is there a Santa Claus?
Virginia O’Hanlon
Most of you know the editor responded to Virginia in what’s become one of the most frequently republished editorials in the English language.
He assured Virginia her friends were wrong, the victims of people in “a skeptical age” who “do not believe except [what] they see.”
He told Virginia, “Nobody sees Santa Claus, but that is no sign that there is no Santa Claus. The most real things in the world are those that neither children nor men can see.”
The editor had more to say before he got to the editorial’s most famous line: “Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus.”
And now this - - -
Dear Editor:
I am 8 years old. Some of my little friends say there was no police report used as a check against what you published in the paper in your “sexual violence” story.
Papa says, “If you see it in THE N&O it's so.”
Please tell me the truth; is there such a police report?
Virginia O’Hanlon
The N&O editor responded - -
Ah, Virginia, your little friends are wrong. They have been affected by the skepticism of bloggers and blog hooligans who do not believe except [what] they see.
Yes, Virginia, there is a Police Report.
It exists as certainly as love and generosity and subscription renewals exist, and you know that they abound and give to life its highest beauty and joy.
Alas, how dreary would be the world, especially a certain newsroom, if there was no Police Report.
Not believe in the Police Report! You might as well not believe in the integrity of The N&O!
Nobody sees the Police Report, but that is no sign there is no Police Report.
The most real things in the world are those that neither children nor men can see like Mr. Nifong’s smoking gun and Duke’s equal treatment of its black and white students.
Did you ever see Crystal Mangum levitate in the bathroom that night?
Of course not, but that's no proof she didn’t.
Nobody can conceive or imagine all the wonders there are unseen and unseeable in Durham and at Duke BOT meetings.
Your Friend,
The N&O Editor
3
comments:
Anonymous
said...
The N&O story turned out to be incorrect. Without doubt, it set the table for Nifong's criiminal frame of the lacrosse players. But you say the story was "deliberately fraudulent." How do you know it was deliberate? Not nearly enough attention has been paid to the Raleigh newspaper's role in the fraudulent rape case.
I expect Ted Vaden will ultimately be forced to admit that a woman calling herself Lucy Ramirez contacted Vaden to tell him about the police report, which was subsequently hand-delivered to him in March by an unidentified man during a trip to Houston.
3 comments:
The N&O story turned out to be incorrect. Without doubt, it set the table for Nifong's criiminal frame of the lacrosse players. But you say the story was "deliberately fraudulent." How do you know it was deliberate? Not nearly enough attention has been paid to the Raleigh newspaper's role in the fraudulent rape case.
John:
Re: alleged police report
I expect Ted Vaden will ultimately be forced to admit that a woman calling herself Lucy Ramirez contacted Vaden to tell him about the police report, which was subsequently hand-delivered to him in March by an unidentified man during a trip to Houston.
Ms. Ramirez could not be reached for comment.
Ken
Dallas
To Anon @ 7:11,
Yes to all you say.
In the next day or two I'll do a "first pass" post on why the 3/25/06 story is deliberately fraudulent.
Then shortly into 2009, I'll do a major post with many links that will leave no doubt the N&O's story was deliberately fraudulent.
To Ken,
When Lucy met Virginia.
Sounds like a post title.
I always appreciate your comments.
Best to you both,
John
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