Dear East Valley Tribune Reporters,
Not for nothing, but I've noticed that you guys often publish desciptions of
suspects involved in local crimes, only omitting race when, one would presume,
the description is of a "white" person. For example,
here, you describe two men who, based on one's blonde hair, we might guess
is white or hispanic; but here
the description is explicitly "Hispanic", here
it is of a "black male", and here
again a "black male". The list goes on, and I don't have time to compile a
complete statistical analysis, but it has gotten bad enough that I feel I need
to say something. Sure, every once in a while an article makes reference to white
perpetrators, but half the time the descriptions seem to assume that if no
race is given, the subject is white or caucasian. What, is that supposed to be
the default? Even
here we find an article where the police are actively seeking the public's
help in tracking down a bank robber, and her description completely omits her
race or skin color. That doesn't seem very helpful, guys.
Now maybe the source for the story didn't provide this information. Believe
me, I want to be sympathetic here; in that case though, with a duty to report
on events as completely as possible, would it not make sense to ring the
police and ask? Maybe do some investigation of your own? Sure, fine, maybe the
story isn't important enough or you don't have time. All right, no problem:
say so! Say, "the only description provided was that the suspect had arms and
legs and breathed regularly". Say, "no further description was available".
Otherwise you leave us wondering whether these continued omissions are
deliberate, or just sloppy.
viopac 8.0-rc2 "he spreads the burning sands with water"
copyright © 1995-2009 VioPac
21 October, 2008 Edition
The rest is silence.
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