Wednesday, December 10, 2008

Why's the N&O's Blythe still covering the Duke/Durham frame-up story

Saturday I posted N&O again terms Nifong "fallen prosecutor."

The title tells you the problem. Nifong "fallen?" That's the adjective we most commonly use for our honored war dead and for police officers wounded or killed in the line of duty.

For Nifong "disbarred" and "disgraced" are much more accurate and appropriate adjectives.

The "fallen Nifong" story's reporter, Anne Blythe, shared with Samiha Khanna bylines on the N&O's March 24 and 25, 2006 stories which set off the Duke lacrosse witch hunt and the public part of the attempt to frame three transparently innocent Duke students for gang rape and other felonies.

A commenter responding to
N&O again terms Nifong "fallen prosecutor asked why Blyths was still permitted to report on the Duke/Durham case.

That's a reasonable question.

The best answer I can give at this time is this: N&O reporters and editors talk publicly at least about how "proud" they are of the N&O's Duke lacrosse coverage beginning on March 24, 2006 and continuing through to this day.

The N&O acknowledges it made a few mistakes in the first few days of reporting the story, but it places blame for those mistakes squarely on the shoulders of the players, their parents, attorneys and others who "would not cooperate with us."

According to the N&O, after the first few days and once the players, parents, etc. started cooperating, the N&O's coverage was outstanding.

That's self-serving bosh as I've demonstrated many times on this blog.

But given the public position of the N&O regarding its Duke lacrosse coverage, why would it take Blythe off the story since she continues to promote the falsehoods and biases of what the N&O says it its "outstanding Duke lacrosse coverage."

Here's an example of Blythe's biased and false reporting from a July 26, 2007 post - -
INNOCENT: N&O STILL CLAIMS "RACIAL SLURS." Blythe never responded to my offer to publish in full whatever response she cared to make to the false statements I noted in her story.

***********************************************************

The July 26, 2007 post begins - - -

"... these three individuals [David Evans, Collin Finnerty and Reade Seligmann,] are innocent of these charges."

North Carolina Attorney General Roy Cooper, Apr. 11, 2007
___________________________________________________

I've just sent the following email to N&O Reporter Anne Blythe, one of two reporters bylined on the Raleigh News & Observer's deliberatly fraudulent March 25, 2006, "anonymous interview" story,

Dancer gives details of ordeal
A woman hired to dance for the Duke lacrosse team describes a night of racial slurs, growing fear and, finally, sexual violence.
That story reported "the victim's" claims that racial slurs were "barked" at her and the other danser before she was brutally beaten and gang-raped. The N&O also withheld from the story the critically important exculpatory news "the victim" said the second dancer had been sexually assaulted but didn't report it for fear of losing her job.

John
______________________________________

Dear Reporter Blythe:

Your story today, "Nifong apologizes to lacrosse players," includes this:
Defense lawyers have said the players scattered in the wee hours of the morning after the team party because the second escort service dancer threatened to call police about racial slurs uttered by partygoers.
I'm not aware of the defense attorneys saying any such thing.

Can you show me where they did?

If you can't, will you correct your story?

I'll publish your response in full.

Also, you and the N&O claim you reported in your March 25 story only things "the victim" said that were in "a police report."

You've never ID'ed which police report you used. Your March 25 story reported "the victim" saying things that are in no police report made public so far.

Did you really restrict what you reported Crystal Mangum said to what was in a police report? Or did you not?

If you really did use a police report, make it available. I'll publish that in full. People want to see it.

Thank you for your attention to my queries.

Sincerely,

John in Carolina

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Why is it so hard to crack the N&O coverup?

Anonymous said...

The difficulty is not in "cracking" the coverup. John has done that time and again. The problem is getting American "news" organizations to admit that they lie, they prevaricate, they bend the truth, they have agendas that have noting to do with honest reporting of fact. THAT'S the difficulty.
I wonder why anyone bothers; I have tried for years to induce honesty in the lying media without any success. John keeps poking, but they just go on their merry way ignoring his challenges.
Tarheel Hawkeye

Anonymous said...

I admire John, but how has he cracked the coverup?