Tuesday, April 15, 2008

The Media and Duke Lacrosse Rape Case

Posted by MLS

The Duke Lacrosse Rape Case of 2006 attracted much attention and caused a media sensation. However, the variations of information and points of views expressed by the press impacted the world's opinions of the accused and accuser. With reports focusing on the race, gender, education, soicio-economic status and college athletics, the world couldn't help but to take sides. Some articles mentioned the fact that the stripper was black while the assaulters were white and that racial slurs were shouted at the accuser. Others focused on the life the lacrosse players lead at the school. A piece of Nancy Grace's report involved comparing the home and education of the Duke students to the exotic dancer. All of these factors that have very little to do with the actual facts of the rape itself, caused people to take sides (based on personal beliefs and values) and even protest.

Because of these aspects of the show, there was intense media coverage, which lead to competition between various stations and newspaper companies. Coverage on the show Nancy Grace for example, had anchor Nancy Grace berate a producer about information he was saying, then she interrogates another man who is clearly defending the boys from the lacrosse team, yet she hardly interrupts a woman speaker who essentially agrees with what the man had said before. The report on this show seemed to be more for entertainment and make people aware of the story without giving all the facts of the case. This coverage contrasts with a report made by 60 minutes which provided information from different sources, interviews from witnesses, and laid out the facts in order for the viewer to make a informed opinion about the case. As some writers there are some that did stick to the basic facts, but others, through word choice, caused bias. Some bias are against the members of the lacross team, and some bias is against the exoctic dancer.
In my opinion, the media should have more restrictions on covering a case like this in the future. There should be limited fact release immediately after the crime has been committed until all the evidence is gathered and the investigation is closed. Once the initial investigation in completed then the media can publish anything they want and any opinions and add any bias to their coverage. Therefore, we would have a better opinionated public.

1 comments:

mtmshannon said...

OK but not incredible. You mostly recite facts without any real in-depth analysis. Try digging deeper next time and really think about the role of the media in cases such as this. Why did the media make the decisions in this case that it did? What choice of language is used to present one side or the other?

Mr. Shannon