News Journal Helps Rapist Hide
June 26th, 2007 by Dan GaffneyA rape in Dewey, and the News Journal continues it’s tradition of withholding descriptive features given by police. The Gannett paper edits out the race, and or skin color of the wanted suspect yet again:
The suspect is described as in his mid-twenties, wearing dark clothing and a dark hat.
Same reporter (Roger Hillis) same company (Gannett) , but at the Coast Press they get it right:
The suspect is described as black, in his mid-twenties, wearing dark clothing and a dark hat.
Thanks again News Journal for helping to aid the escape of fugitives that rape, rob and kill here in Sussex.
June 27th, 2007 at 4:59 am
Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.
June 27th, 2007 at 10:08 am
What else would you expect from THE NEWS URINAL?
June 27th, 2007 at 2:07 pm
Here’s the thing. Do you REALLY think adding “black” to the above description is going to help the cops catch him? I mean, is a “black, mid-twenties, wearing dark clothing and a dark hat” really any more helpful than simply “mid-twenties, wearing dark clothing and a dark hat”? I suspect the editors at the NJ have a policy that they will omit the suspect’s race unless there is a very specific description that may, in fact, help identify and catch the suspect. I can see where some (Dan) may interpret this is as “helping rapists hide,” however, I don’t think that’s an accurate assumption. The Coast Press apparently has a different editorial policy — and yet, neither paper’s description is going to help anyone identify the suspect, in the end. So it seems to me you’ve got yourself a big fat non-issue here.
June 29th, 2007 at 7:13 am
whome, no offense, but are you stupid or just dumb?
I know, sounds a tad harsh especially coming from a nice guy like me but I think in this case it’s warranted.
Do you not believe that by removing suspicion from 65% of the male population, the police could possibly be aided? Do you not understand that if you don’t give the obvious description of skin-tone you are intentionally misleading the public in the name of political correctness? If they had said it was a white guy or an Asian guy or any other race descriptor it would automatically put people in those categories on a heightened sense of awareness?
Last week when someone slashed my tires in Dover, nobody seemed to have a real clue who could have done it until I gave a description of the guy I had a brief and seemingly innocuous discussion with a guy shortly before the incident. If I hadn’t mentioned it was a white guy and described his height and general features, nobody would have guessed the culprit was who it was. Information is important when trying to bring bad people to justice. ALL information.