A week or so back, I wrote about the Duke Lacrosse case and the power of images. As most of you are aware, there have some been dramatic new developments in the case: the players’ lawyers say that DNA tests done by the state SBI lab refute the notion of a sexual assault.
Not all sexual assaults leave behind DNA and conversely the absence of DNA doesn’t automatically make prosecutors drop cases. Darryl Hunt can attest to that. But in this day and age, with skeptical jurors and CSI overloads running through our brains, it makes it very difficult for jurors to convict without forensic evidence.
If you believe the players’ attorneys—who are some of the best and best-connected criminal defense attorneys in the state—this case is over. Maybe. Maybe not. What does seem clear is that the events of that night are much more complicated than have originally been reported. And this raises some interesting issues about media responsibility in a 24/7 world. There has been intense pressure to publish and broadcast and post on this case for the reasons I wrote about last week. If you take the sexual assault off the table—assuming for the purpose of this discussion that it didn’t happen—is there still a story about piggish and racist (but not criminal) behavior by a bunch of college jocks? Yes, but it might not make the national news.
What should the media do? Our car doesn’t go in reverse, yet based on what’s happened so far some of the earlier reporting is way too breathless. So this is yet another reminder that most issues—sexual assaults, wars in Iraq, peace in the Middle East, immigration—are much more complex than the providers AND consumers of news want to admit. Neat and tidy works for kitchen cabinets, but little else.
Your host is Ken Otterbourg, the managing editor at the Winston-Salem Journal. It's a forum to discuss the media, from
Yes, “neat and tidy works for kitchen cabinets, but little else.” And “breathless” sells newspapers (whether you admit it or not). There is no simple answer, Ken. Racism is alive and well in NC in 2006, but that doesn’t mean the members of the hockey team sexually assaulted these particular women nor does it mean they didn’t. I do not envy reporters and editors, who must make speedy decisions and meet lurking deadlines. It’s actually a wonder, under those circumstances, that more stories don’t turn out to be completely wrong. The rest of us have the luxury of time. I can sit here all day deciding what to say or just hit “delete” and no one’s the wiser. But you get the big bucks, not me, right?
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