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June 02, 2005
A note on standards
We’re still getting letters objecting to our handling of a rape arrest in Hopkinton in a May 25 story. I answered one letter in the paper. The writer had criticized the reporter of the story. I defended the reporter because it was not she alone who had decided what details to include, and I thought readers should know that.
Otherwise, we have simply let readers have their say. That’s what letters to the editor are for.
But since we did not deviate from our standards in the coverage or play of this story, I thought it might be helpful to readers to explain just what those standards are.
This is an adult felony charge, not a juvenile case. That is why we identified the alleged perpetrator. Some readers have suggested that we should wait until after a guilty verdict to report the name of a person accused of a crime. Such an approach would be neither realistic nor healthy in an open society. The public needs to know who has been arrested for what.
We have not identified the alleged victim in this case because the allegation is sexual in nature. That is a near-universal standard in journalism. It is often revisited and debated, as it was most recently in the Kobe Bryant case, but I think it is the right standard.
Our May 25 story included several details from an affidavit in the case. Readers’ most basic questions in a story like this are: What happened? Why did it result in charges of aggrevated felonious sexual assault? The details we published provided the best answers we could to these questions.
When a crime of this nature is alleged, we also try to tell readers what we can about the person charged. This is standard journalistic practice. We followed it for this story, publishing the details the reporter could find out by deadline.
We played the story on page one because it was big news, not just in Hopkinton but throughout our circulation area. Fortunately, rape charges are rare among local high school students. What is rare is news. Although we knew the story would be widely read, we played it at the bottom of the page. Reader interest is an important factor in story placement, and we probably would have sold more papers on the newsstand had we made this the lead story on page one. Because the charges were sexual in nature, we decided not do so.
Posted by Mike Pride at June 2, 2005 09:27 AM
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Comments
great that you have such standards, keep up the good work, in informing the public!!
Posted by: wendy at June 3, 2005 11:01 AM
Mike,
Thanks for your clarification. I think it is important for readers to understand the paper's criteria and to know that standards and consideration were applied. These are challenging journalistic issues. My role is to advocate and make the public aware of the potential impact on the individuals involved. I hope you took my letter in the spirit of stimulating thought and awareness. Thanks, Louis
Posted by: Louis Josephson at June 3, 2005 04:35 PM
Here is a question about the coverage of criminal trials in general. I have noticed that when someone is acquitted of a crime, newspapers always seems to say that the jury found the defendant "innocent." But this really isn't accurate. Juries don't find people "innocent." Juries find people "not guilty," meaning there is reasonable as to the defendant's guilt.
Is it true that newspapers avoid the term "not guilty" out of a fear of a misprint that would read "guilty?" If so, isn't that a misplaced fear since by using the term "innocent," the paper is purposely reporting the story inaccurately?
Posted by: cmc at June 14, 2005 06:02 AM