Here is how a police press release described a suspect in a downtown stabbing this morning:
"The suspect is described as a black male, approximately 5’9, medium build and wearing a white tank top shirt."Here is how WGHP MyFox8 reported the suspect's description:
"An ample suspect description was not available."And the News & Record:
"According to the victim, he was involved in a fight with a man near Washington and Elm streets and the other man assaulted him with a knife, police said."So tell me, when we can subscribe by email, feeds and social media to official government announcements, what value do news outlets add when they regurgitate press releases but filter details?
WGHP MyFox8, who needs reality when you have us?
The News & Record, the most trusted source for newsish morsels.
When I was at the N&R, our crime-reporting guidelines were to omit physical descriptions of suspects unless the description contained enough information to "uniquely identify" an individual. IIRC correctly, one had to weigh a description against eight factors. That might have changed by now. I don't know.
ReplyDeleteYes, I'm aware. The reasons then were never clear to me; now, when we can get the information directly, the rationale is even more incomprehensible.
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