‘Alleged’ journalism from the Journal Star in rape case
UPDATED:A 13-year-old girl told police she was sexually assaulted and shot at while walking to school yesterday. She knocked on the door of a resident, who later told the JS she was covered with blood, her clothing was ripped and she was crying and shaking uncontrollably.
In two articles on the case, here and here, the
What was that word? It wasn’t “horrible.” It wasn’t “heartbreaking.” It wasn’t “terrifying” or even “sad.”
The word that Peoria’s award-winning, one and only daily newspaper of record used to describe the
From the first article: “The alleged attack, reported about 8:45 a.m., took place near railroad tracks that intersect with Vine Street and run parallel between Rock Island and Lake View avenues.”
From the second: “A 13-year-old girl was allegedly sexually assaulted and shot at near railroad tracks around the 300 block of Lake View Avenue. The incident was reported at about 8:45 a.m.”
I copied both offending paragraphs because I wanted to make it clear that this wasn’t a case of cutting and pasting paragraphs from one story onto another. Conscious decisions were made to use that word.
“Alleged” is one of those funny words that are used in newspapers far more than the are used in real life. Were in not for newspapers, I doubt it would be used beyond the court system. In other words, it’s
For example, from a lawsuit avoidance standpoint, the sentence “Jim Smith allegedly robbed two woman at gunpoint in 2005″ is preferable to “Jim Smith robbed two women at gunpoint in 2005,” especially if the hypothetical Mr. Smith has never been convinced of anything. But newspapers cannot convict people with their words, so it became a practice to toss in the adjective “alleged” or the adverb “allegedly” into sentences, thus sparing publishers the cost of defending themselves from libel.
My question is this: Who was doing the “alleging” in this rape case? The victim. Remember her? The 13-year-old girl, covered with blood, crying and shaking in her torn sweater in some stranger’s home? Was the Journal Star worried that this person would be outraged that the Journal Star printed the story and due. Was the Journal Star worried that whoever might possibly get arrested in the future would sue the newspaper for assuming that the crime really did occur?
Not all crimes are created equal. There is a long and sordid history of rape victims being accused of making up incidents, or with reporting rape after consenting to sex. It’s one thing to write about an “alleged robbery,” but quite another to write about an alleged rape. It implies that there is suspicion that the rime might not have even happened.
And that’s exactly what happened when the Journal Star twice described this as an “alleged” attack. The Journal Star personnel no doubt were operating on remote control, tossing the word alleged into their crime reporting because, well, that’s what they do. But to the general public, it’s code for: “Hey, the newspaper or the cops think this girl made the whole thing up.” I would hate to think that the JS would be so unscrupulous as to try to deliberately signal any such suspicions into it’s reportage. Even if there is suspicion, the job of the paper is to print provable facts, not broadcast suspicions.
What’s really aggravating to me is that it’s so easy to avoid. For example: “The girl reported the attack happened at about 8:45 a.m. near railroad tracks that intersect with Vine Street and run parallel between Rock Island and Lake View avenues.” Also: “A 13-year-old girl told police she was sexually assaulted and shot at near railroad tracks around the 300 block of Lake View Avenue. The incident was reported at about 8:45 a.m.”
But newspaper work is sometimes done on mental remote control, with people going through the motions and not really thinking about the effects of what is being written. I hope that the reporters and editors of the Journal Star stop and think for a moment, and ban this worthless piece of jargon and put a little more thought into how they write up incidents like this in the future.
UPDATE: WMBD Radio was using the same word to describe the attack. There are new updates at PJStar.com that do not. Message received, maybe.
Billy Dennis is a former reporter and editor at small daily and weekly newspapers in Illinois and Missouri. He comments on media, news and politics. He also owns and operates 
The links for the “two” articles are the same …
I agree that it’s not proper reporting, but I hardly think that the average reader thinks that because they used the word alleged that the JS editors/cops don’t believe the girl. I do agree though that this is a case of “journalistic autopilot”.
I think the PJS is being responsible in this case.
Why?
Two words: Tawana Brawley
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tawana_Brawley
Tawana Brawley went missing overnight, and later accused police officers of molesting her after being confronted about being missing.
This young girl knocked on some guy’s door after being late for school by 45 minutes, covered in blood.
The comparison is a BIT irresponsible.
I didn’t agree with you for the first half of your commentary, Billy, figuring the JS has a right to cover their ass re libel. But the question you pose midway through is right on point and totally hit me. What is the need for “alleged” when they aren’t referring to a specific person, as in “the girl alleges that John Q Public raped her.”
They are (intentionally or not) maligning the report of assault by a thirteen year old girl, making her out to be a possible liar. Why is that necessary at this point in time? If there is evidence that the girl might be fabricating a story, they should have presented that in the story. But they don’t seem to actually question that the assault happened, nor does anyone they mention.
Mcsey, I actually did just what you mention when I read the article, think that maybe the girl was making it up or something because of their sloppy use of “alleged.”
So indeed, this is crappy reporting autopilot nonsense.
Fair enough, I sit corrected; however, I stick by “journalistic autopilot” as opposed to “attempting to insinuate the attack didn’t happen”. That said, while I believe the girl was attacked and am nearly certain of it, she may not have been. I’ll say for certain the police believe she was attacked when they arrest a suspect and allege (v. maintain) he committed this crime, and I’ll tell you for certain that he did or didn’t do it after the trial. (And yes I understand that sort of alleged (adj. doubtful, not proven, “so called”) weaslery is part of what Billy is complaining about;)
In the end the whole thing could’ve been handled the way Billy suggested. “The girl reported that she was…” Heck even “The girl alleged that…” is proper. “The girl allegedly” is loaded.
Hey I’ve gone back and forth on myself about three times in this thread. No hobgoblins of logical consistency here.
Just the latest example of what is wrong with this city and the folks who run it! Think back just a few short days to the last city meeting. No of course the city can not afford to hire more police, the budget is way to tight we are told. For big projets that all changes. How many cops could the city hire if they sold the rail track for $750,000, or used the money from selling the old Sears block, or stopped building parking garages, or (fill in the blank) ? We had folks like VanAuken tell us her voters were not that concerned about the rail trail, and then vote to keep right on supporting it. Well Barbara your voters dont care about the rail trail, but we do care about crime. We do care that our 13 year old daughters can not walk to school for fear of getting shot, or maybe just raped on the way.
I had the same reaction as cgiselle12, thinking Billy was going way over the top with his criticism. But his re-write makes a powerful point and presented that way does away with the maybe-it-didn’t-really-happen implication of using the word alleged.
Now remember -the Urinal is up for sale ! The powers to be stated that we need this home town flavor when reporting local news! I hope thia “alleged sale ” gets run up their A@@!
It reads just right to me, but I’m a lawyer.
“Alleged attack” does seem a bit out of place when you read this statement further is the article: “She was less than a mile away, and apparently tardy, when she was assaulted.” Not allegedly assaulted.
and the district still wants to put a school in the park……
At least Vonster won’t have any input on this, as the alleged rapist is allegedly white. ………
Rob B:
You mean allegedly “caucasian”. That is “The Vonster”, about which you are referring to.
Doc, I am pretty sure Vonster is a mid 50s African-
American Woman.
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