Duke lacrosse: I'll try McClatchy's public editor again

If you're a regular you know Ted Vaden, public editor of the McClatchy Company's Raleigh News & Observer, has failed to respond to a few recent emails.

The emails asked Vaden specific, fact-based questions about The N&O's coverage of the Duke lacrosse case; coverage many readers, including me, say is biased against the lacrosse players and has inflamed race and class relations in the community.

Why no response from Vaden?

I'm told he's been away lately.

What's more, there was the Memorial Day weekend; and perhaps as Vaden's told me before: "I guess I just lost your emails, John."

OK, but I won't give up.

I'm sending Vaden via email two new JinC posts. Both contain important, fact-based questions concerning The N&O's Duke lacrosse coverage.

The first post is "There are new Duke lacrosse discrepancies."

In that post I report and question two N&O news stories. Both new stories contain accounts of the accuser’s whereabouts and activities in the hours immediately preceding her arrival at the party where she says she was gang-raped. One account is by the accuser's father; the other by a man The N&O says drove her to the house.

But the two accounts contradict each other. The father and the man The N&O says drove her to the party put the accuser in different places doing different things in the same few hours just before the party.

The accuser's father's account is contained in a May 19 N&O story; the driver's account is contained in a May 27 N&O story.

If you compare the two stories, you'll quickly see the conflicts between the father and driver's accounts are HUGE.

The N&O made no effort in its May 27 story to reconcile or explain the conflicts.

In fact, The N&O didn't tell readers anything in its May 27 story about the conflicts.

Since May 27 through today, June 1, The N&O has told readers nothing about the conflicts.

If you're an N&O reader you may be asking: How can The N&O ignore such conflicts after sending reporters into courthouses looking for any misdemeanor charge against anyone whose name appeared on a Duke Men's lacrosse roster as far back as 1999; and then published its findings in a front page story in a Sunday edition?

Great question!

The second post is "Duke lacrosse: Taking terrible and making it worse."

On March 24 The N&O broke the Duke lacrosse story, telling readers 46 lacrosse players had submitted to DNA testing following an allegation of gang-rape.

The following day The N&O granted the accuser an anonymous interview which it ran on page one beneath a five column headline spread.

The N&O's March 25 story headline:

DANCER GIVES DETAILS OF ORDEAL

The N&O's sub-headline:

A woman hired to dance for the Duke lacrosse team describes a night of racial slurs, growing fear and, finally, sexual violence.

The N&O's story was consistent with it's unqualified headlines.

In just the story's first five paragraphs The N&O presented the accuser as a frightened, tearful victim who heard the "barking of racial slurs" before the brutal crime.

N&O readers were told:

"authorities vowed to crack the team's wall of solidarity.

"We're asking someone from the lacrosse team to step forward," Durham police Cpl. David Addison said. "We will be relentless in finding out who committed this crime."

Understandably, many N&O readers adopted a "slam those guys in jail" mentality.

But in its March 25 story The N&O didn't tell readers three Duke lacrosse players who rented the house where the alleged crime took place had all voluntarily given statements to the police and had offered to take lie detector tests; or that the lacrosse players were by March 25 acting on advice of counsel who had been seeking to meet with DA Nifong and the police.

The police knew long before March 25 of the player's cooperative actions. Did the police not tell The N&O about them?

What did The N&O ask the police about actions by the lacrosse players?

Did The N&O know by March 25 of the cooperative actions of the lacrosse players?

If The N&O did know, why didn't it tell its readers about the player's actions?

Readers who've seen our community torn to the point leaders were forced to take newspaper ads calling for public calm deserve answers to those questions.

I hope Vaden answers the questions in both posts.

Keep checking back. I'm not giving up. And I'll keep you informed.


Readers note:

Below a copy of an email I sent Anne Blythe, the reporter who wrote the May 27 story. I've heard nothing from her.
______________________________________________
To Reporter Anne Blythe

Raleigh News & Observer

Per your bylined story today: "Accuser seemed OK early on, driver says"

The post linked below contains questions which your story did not address but which intelligent readers will naturally ask. I'll be happy to post at my blog the answers you provide.

"There are new Duke lacrosse discrepancies."

Also, you story tells readers: "He [Mr. Taylor] did not say whether they consumed any alcohol."

But you don't tell readers whether you actually asked Taylor whether he, she or they consumed alcohol while they were together,

Did you ask Taylor any questions about alcohol consumption involving him, her, or both?

If yes, what did he say?

If no, why not?

You can understand why readers would have an interest in such questions.

I'll post in full at www.johnincarolina.com your response.

Thank you for your attention to this email and the post linked.

John
www.johnincarolina.com
_____________________________________________
Post URLs:

http://www.newsobserver.com/122/story/441262.html

http://www.newsobserver.com/1185/story/443932.html

http://www.newsobserver.com/102/v-print/story/421799.html

http://johninnorthcarolina.blogspot.com/2006/05/there-are-new-duke-lacrosse.html

http://johninnorthcarolina.blogspot.com/2006/05/duke-lacrosse-taking-terrible-and.html