| Blog and Media Roundup - Thursday, July 30, 2009; News Roundup | |
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| Topic Started: Jul 30 2009, 04:36 AM (255 Views) | |
| abb | Jul 30 2009, 04:36 AM Post #1 |
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http://heraldsun.southernheadlines.com/durham/4-1188570.cfm Student robbed at gunpoint DURHAM -- Duke University police said a student was the victim of an armed robbery shortly after 11 p.m. Tuesday at the rear of the East Campus Union building. The student was robbed at gunpoint, but was not injured. Police said the victim reported being approached by three people, one of whom pointed a handgun and removed several personal items from the student's pockets. The victim was ordered to lie on the ground as the three suspects ran toward Buchanan Street. One suspect was described as a black man in his mid to late 20s, about 5 feet 10 inches tall and of medium build. He was wearing a black ball cap, a black shirt with a large white logo -- possibly a face -- on the front of the shirt and dark baggy pants. Another suspect was described as a black man in his mid to late 20s, about 5 feet 10 inches tall, wearing a white short-sleeved T-shirt. Anyone with information about the robbery is asked to contact the Duke University Police Department at 684-2444. |
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| abb | Jul 30 2009, 04:36 AM Post #2 |
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http://heraldsun.southernheadlines.com/state/6-1188536.cfm Probation changes given final OK by NC Legislature GARY D. ROBERTSON : Associated Press Writer The Associated Press Jul 29, 2009 Bookmark and Share RALEIGH, N.C. -- The General Assembly gave final approval Wednesday to legislation designed to improve North Carolina's probation system by giving probation officers more tools to keep an offender from getting into more trouble. The Senate agreed to House changes in a bill based on recommendations sought by Gov. Beverly Perdue after problems surfaced following last year's death of University of North Carolina student president Eve Carson. The two men charged with Carson's killing were on probation at the time of her death. The bill would allow probation officers access to an offender's juvenile records without a court order and allow warrantless searches as a regular condition of probation. More than 12,000 of the 111,000 people on probation were unaccounted for by state correction officials as of Wednesday, according to the Department of Correction's Web site. "Hopefully it will allow for a little better cooperation and a little better exchange of information throughout the court system so that as we work with offenders the public will be a little safer," said Sen. Tony Rand, D-Cumberland, the bill's primary sponsor. Perdue sounded ready to sign the bill into law. "These reforms will hold offenders more accountable and will give probation and law enforcement officers more tools to do their jobs effectively," Perdue said in a statement. "I applaud the General Assembly for taking this step as part of my plan to make North Carolina safer by reforming our probation system." Two other high-profile cases this summer — including a man in North Carolina whom authorities believe killed five people in South Carolina before he was shot and killed in Gastonia — have highlighted strains in the state's probation and parole system. The legislation allows probation officers to examine juvenile records of a probationer for offenses that would have been felonies had they been committed while the offender was an adult. Juvenile records are usually sealed. The disclosed records would help a probation officer determine what kind of supervision the adult probationer needs. The bill also would require probationers under intense supervision not to take illegal drugs or drink alcohol and complete any required community service. The state chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union opposed the bill because police could search a person or the person's car without a warrant. But Rep. William Wainwright, D-Craven, the bill's main proponent in the House, said last week state attorneys believed the provision was constitutional. Lawmakers already have approved a bill allowing low-risk probationers to go unsupervised, lightening the caseload of officers. The final budget bill also may include more money to hire additional officers so that staff in urban areas can focus more on supervising offenders. Perdue also plans Thursday to hold a public event in downtown Raleigh to show how new technology allows law enforcement to know immediately whether the subject of a record check is on probation or parole. The governor, Correction Secretary Alvin Keller and other officials will discuss changes to how probation violation warrants are processed. |
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| abb | Jul 30 2009, 04:37 AM Post #3 |
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http://heraldsun.southernheadlines.com/state/6-1188423.cfm NC State Bar files complaint against legislator GARY D. ROBERTSON : Associated Press Writer The Associated Press Jul 29, 2009 Bookmark and Share RALEIGH, N.C. -- The North Carolina State Bar has filed a disciplinary complaint accusing state Rep. Nick Mackey of committing "criminal acts" by not filing federal and state income tax returns on time for several years. Mackey, D-Mecklenburg, also is accused by attorneys representing the bar that he failed to disclose on that application that he was the subject of an investigation while a Charlotte-Mecklenburg police officer. The complaint, which is similar to a civil action, could lead to a trial before a three-member panel that would determine whether he broke bar rules, and if so, what kind of punishment he should receive. Punishments can range from written warnings to suspension of an attorney's law license or disbarment. Mackey, a former Mecklenburg County sheriff's candidate in 2007, acknowledged in April the bar was looking at tax allegations against him when a Wake County judge ordered the state to provide Mackey's tax records to the bar. He has 20 days to respond in writing to the July 20 complaint served on him last Friday. "They're allegations, and other than that, I won't respond to any pending process," Mackey said Wednesday after the House floor session. Katherine Jean, a state bar attorney who signed the complaint, declined to comment on the case, citing bar rules. The complaint says Mackey, whose complete name is Nikita V. Mackey, answered "no" on his 2002 exam application whether he had "failed to file any personal local, state or federal income tax return or failed to pay any taxes due." Mackey also did not mention that he did not pay state and federal income taxes on time in 1999, 2001 and 2002, or that he didn't pay federal income taxes on time in 1997. Not paying taxes on time would violate a bar rule, according to the complaint. He also failed to "timely file" required federal and state income tax returns from 2003-06 when he made enough money to file them, committing "criminal acts that reflect adversely on his honest, trustworthiness or fitness as a lawyer," the complaint said. Mackey filed for bankruptcy in 2005, the same year he had a federal lien filed against him that claimed he owed the Internal Revenue Service $12,153 in taxes and penalties. Mackey also wrote in his application he had never been subject to allegations he committed fraud, deceit or "professional malpractice." But the complaint said Mackey failed to mention that he had been suspended without pay for lying to a police review board about his conduct involving an off-duty security judge in 1991. Mackey, who resigned from the police department in June 2003, also was suspended without pay a few months earlier and recommended for dismissal, but he failed to amend his application with that information, the complaint said. The complaint also accuses Mackey of not following through with a client who wanted to adopt his stepdaughter before she became an adult. The adoption was never completed because she turned 18. House Speaker Joe Hackney, D-Orange, said that he had received a little information on Mackey's situation and that legislative leaders would be examining the complaint. "The facts alleged are things that are obviously not proper conduct," Hackney said. In March 2008, the House voted overwhelmingly to remove Democratic Rep. Thomas Wright from office for ethical misconduct — marking the first time in nearly 130 years that the Legislature kicked a member out of office. The decision followed a public hearing examining allegations he mishandled or hid about $340,000 in loans and donations. |
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| abb | Jul 30 2009, 04:42 AM Post #4 |
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http://heraldsun.southernheadlines.com/opinion/hsedits/56-1188386.cfm Charges chilling, but be cautious : \ The Herald-Sun Jul 30, 2009 Bookmark and Share Federal charges Monday that seven Raleigh-area men were involved in a potential plot to kidnap, kill and maim people abroad not only revived fears of terrorists but brought the subject stunningly close to home for us here in this region. "These charges hammer home the point that terrorists and their supporters are not confined to the remote regions of some far away land but can grow and fester right here at home," U. S. Attorney E. B. Holding said in announcing the charges Monday. Federal investigators assert that Daniel Boyd, his two sons and five others, including one suspect not yet taken into custody and believed to be in Pakistan, were plotting and preparing for a "violent jihad." Authorities maintain the group has been travelling the world, acquiring weapons and engaging in military-style training. Apparently, there is no evidence the men planned attacks on American soil, but may have been contemplating suicide attacks in Pakistan, Israel or other countries. The charges, if true, are chilling. But as details of the case unfold, we should remember the importance of that caveat, "if true," and remind ourselves that like any criminal defendant these men are presumed innocent until proven guilty. While we applaud the vigilance of law enforcement and welcome their efforts if this case proves true, overreaching by federal prosecutors in domestic terrorism cases has not been unheard of. Even more important, now is the time to avoid any temptation, since the men have Muslim ties, to let this cast a shadow on others of that faith. Indeed, federal investigators say that Boyd broke off from local mosques which he felt were too moderate. The Muslim American Society of Raleigh quickly issued a statement on Tuesday. While noting it could not speculate on the validity of the arrest, the society cautioned "we can, however, say this case should be litigated in federal court, not the court of public opinion." Noting it counted on the judicial system to be fair and objective, the society added "we ask Americans not to come to any conclusions about Islam or the Muslim community as the result of the charges filed against these defendants." That is sound advice. |
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| abb | Jul 30 2009, 04:45 AM Post #5 |
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http://www.newsobserver.com/news/story/1626888.html Published: Jul 30, 2009 02:00 AM Modified: Jul 29, 2009 11:25 PM Mackey is serving first House term. Legislator is accused of not filing taxes State Bar also says Charlotte Democrat acted unprofessionally BY JIM MORRILL AND GARY L. WRIGHT, The Charlotte Observer In a rare and wide-ranging complaint, the State Bar has accused state Rep. Nick Mackey of "criminal acts" for failing to file four years of state and federal income-tax returns. The bar also accused him of unprofessional conduct citing, among other things, his failure to disclose that as a Charlotte police officer in 2002 he was investigated for allegedly lying about the hours he worked. For Mackey, a Charlotte Democrat and a lawyer, the charges could lead to suspension of his practice or even disbarment. It's not clear whether he could also face criminal charges. Referring specifically to the tax charges, Bar counsel Katherine Jean wrote in the complaint that Mackey "committed criminal acts that reflect adversely on his honesty, trustworthiness, or fitness as a lawyer." Mackey has 20 days to respond. "I'm not going to comment on it since it's pending," he told the Charlotte Observer Wednesday. Mackey, 42, first came to prominence during his bid for sheriff in 2007. He won a special Mecklenburg County party election to fill a vacancy, only to have it overturned when the state party found irregularities. He went on to overwhelmingly win election to the state House in November. In his first term, Mackey has introduced several bills including measures on cyber-bullying, identity theft and legalized marijuana for medical purposes. House Speaker Joe Hackney, an Orange County Democrat, said Wednesday that the House will look into the charges. "The facts alleged are things that are obviously not proper conduct," Hackney said. "We will be looking into it and will see what the situation calls for from the House point of view." The new charges are Mackey's latest legal hurdle. State Bar reprimand In October, the State Bar -- the regulatory agency that oversees North Carolina's 26,000 lawyers -- reprimanded Mackey for "professional misconduct" in a case involving a former client. In April, a Wake County judge ordered the N.C. Revenue Department to give the bar 11 years' worth of Mackey's tax records. The latest complaint was filed with the bar's Disciplinary Hearing Commission. According to a bar policy, cases go to the commission when a grievance committee determines "conduct is serious enough that the lawyer's license to practice law should be suspended or the lawyer should be disbarred." In 2007, fewer than two dozen of the more than 1,500 grievances filed with the bar ended up before the commission. In a seven-page complaint, the bar claims that Mackey: •Failed to pay taxes from 2003 to 2006. "Mackey's failure to file the required Federal and State income tax returns on a timely basis ... was willful," Jean wrote, adding that such willful failure is a misdemeanor under both state and federal law. Thomas Beam, a spokesman for the state Department of Revenue, said the department can only comment on an individual if the taxpayer has been convicted in court. Like the IRS, the state Revenue Department has a criminal investigation division. •Failed to let law examiners know about earlier unpaid taxes when he filed to take the state bar exam in 2002. Specifically it says he failed to disclose that he hadn't paid federal taxes in 1997, 1999, 2001 and 2002 as well as three years' worth of state taxes. •Violated professional conduct rules in a case involving Morris Chisholm, a client who wanted to adopt his 17-year-old stepdaughter. "Mackey failed to reasonably communicate with Chisholm ... [and] failed to monitor the progress of the adoption," Jean wrote in the complaint. Chisholm missed the deadline to adopt the girl before her 18th birthday. A court awarded Chisholm a judgment against Mackey for $1,000, Mackey's fee in the case. •Didn't tell law examiners that, as a Charlotte police officer, he had been investigated for "fabrication" of hourly duty reports. Misconduct alleged According to the complaint, Mackey was suspended without pay in February 2003 and cited to the Civil Service Board for firing. He resigned in June 2003. In March 2003, the Charlotte Observer quoted sources saying Mackey and a fellow sergeant had lied about the hours they worked and that Mackey had been accused of sending sexually explicit material from his city- issued computer. One bill Mackey introduced this session is called Law Enforcement Officer Legal Rights Protection Act. It would allow a police officer under internal investigation to be represented by a member of his chosen employee organization. Staff writer Mark Johnson contributed to this report. |
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| abb | Jul 30 2009, 04:47 AM Post #6 |
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http://www.newsobserver.com/news/story/1626916.html Published: Jul 30, 2009 04:54 AM Modified: Jul 30, 2009 05:21 AM Yaghi also went to Israel, Jordan and Egypt. FBI Arrests Hassan's trip to Israel is cited by the indictment. City County Bureau of Identifica HASSAN3.NE.072909.RTW The U.S. passport of Mohammad Omar Aly Hassan shows stamps from a trip to Jordan. He is accused of traveling overseas for 'violent jihad.' Robert Willett, Staff photo by Robert Willett Buy Photo Boyd's zeal drew followers Suspect caught in a net, lawyer says BY JOSH SHAFFER, MANDY LOCKE AND YONAT SHIMRON, Staff Writers RALEIGH - Two young men snared in a federal terrorism investigation were unwitting admirers of accused ringleader Daniel Boyd, a charismatic and ardent Muslim they knew only as "Saifullah," the sword of God, their friends and lawyers said Wednesday. The pair, Mohammad Omar Aly Hassan, 22, and Ziyad Yaghi, 21, met Boyd at Raleigh and Durham mosques. There was something about Boyd, a magnetism of sorts, recalled longtime friend Kalled Shanab, 23, of Cary. He stood out. "I wondered 'Who is this guy?' He was always smiling, so humble, just a really good guy," Shanab recalls. "He's really religious. I think that's why Omar pushed toward having a relationship with him. He helped guide them. I don't know if it was for mujahedeen or for what." Hassan and Yaghi wait under lockdown in the Wake County jail, facing possible sentences of life in prison along with Boyd and four others accused of plotting to kill and die for Islam. But to those who know them, they are victims of gravitating too close to Boyd, 39, a Johnston County resident who trained in Afghan terrorist camps and spent time in Pakistan aiding Afghan refugees. "It would appear that Omar is caught up in a net that was intended to catch somebody else," said Karl Knudsen, a Raleigh lawyer who has represented Hassan in an earlier misdemeanor false imprisonment conviction and is now aiding his family. "He's also frightened out of his wits. He's scared to death." The seven men were to appear in federal court today, but the hearing was rescheduled when lawyers requested more time to meet with their clients. At that hearing, now set for Tuesday, a judge will decide whether the suspects should be released on bail. It's also a chance for prosecutors to reveal more about their evidence. The trip to Israel To Knudsen, the 14-page federal indictment speaks mostly about Boyd: stockpiling weapons, practicing military tactics in Caswell County, selling a 9mm handgun to a convicted felon. Hassan is cited only in reference to a 2007 trip to Israel he took with Yaghi. The indictment describes their trip as an attempt at violent jihad, and it says that Boyd lied to federal agents in Atlanta about his intent to meet Yaghi and Hassan in Israel. But Knudsen said Hassan's trip had nothing to do with terrorism. "He had just broken up with his girlfriend, and a little change in scenery seemed appropriate," Knudsen said, adding that Yaghi may have had a girlfriend in Gaza. The two were denied entry in Israel, so they went instead to Jordan and Egypt, where they had friends and family, including Hassan's father. As for the Israelis' refusal to admit Hassan and Yaghi, Knudsen said, "They have their own reasons for doing things. It could be they don't like the looks of somebody. ... especially if your name is Mohammad Omar Aly Hassan." A brush with the law Over time, Shanab said, his friends said less about their visits with Boyd. Shanab had known the boys since middle school. He and Hassan, next-door neighbors and first-generation Americans born to Egyptian parents, developed a fast friendship. He met Yaghi at mosque and has spent most Fridays through boyhood playing sports with him. "Sometimes," he said, "I'd ask, 'Have you talked to Saifullah?' Then, they'd talk about it only rarely." He refused to believe his friends could be linked to any terror plot. All three drew attention from federal agents in December, when they were part of a group charged with robbery and kidnapping. A former roommate of Yaghi's told police he was taken at gunpoint by a group of men, beaten and forced to go to an automatic teller. Shanab said a young man they knew owed Yaghi money. Yaghi wanted to collect it. "It's not that he needed the money," Shanab said. "He thought the kid was mistaking his kindness for weakness and that was not OK with Ziyad." When the man with the debt went voluntarily to the ATM, then called police, he was beaten by Yaghi. That night landed the young men in the Wake County jail. Yaghi and Shanab were there for five and a half months; Hassan for 45 days. Their stint in jail nearly broke Hassan and Yaghi's families. "Omar's mom had to be hospitalized because of her nerves," Shanab said. Yaghi's mother, who raises him alone, wept every time he called her. But during that scrape with the law, agents with the FBI pressed the young men about their knowledge of Daniel Boyd, Shanab said. They all believed their phones were tapped, and investigators assured the young men that they could track their every movement, Shanab said. Yaghi's attorney did not return a call seeking comment. "I had nothing to hide, so I didn't care," Shanab said, "but I never would have assumed they'd be targeting us." josh.shaffer@newsobserver.com or 919-829-4818 |
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| abb | Jul 30 2009, 04:59 AM Post #7 |
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http://justice4nifong.blogspot.com/2009/07/rare-occurrence-state-bar-to-take.html Rare occurrence: State Bar to take prosecutor before Grievance panel |
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| abb | Jul 30 2009, 04:59 AM Post #8 |
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http://www.timesdaily.com/article/20090730/ARTICLES/907305040?Title=McGuire-innocent McGuire innocent By Dennis Sherer Staff Writer Published: Thursday, July 30, 2009 at 3:30 a.m. Last Modified: Wednesday, July 29, 2009 at 11:38 p.m. FLORENCE - Brian Keith McGuire flashed a smile of relief and hugged attorneys Wednesday as he learned Lauderdale County jurors determined he did not rape a Florence woman in 1990. Click to enlarge Brian Keith McGuire gets a congratulatory hug from his sister, Susan Adams, after McGuire was found not guilty on rape charges. Matt McKean/TimesDaily The jury of six men and six women deliberated for more than seven hours before reaching the innocent verdict just before 10 a.m. "This is a load off me," McGuire said as he walked out of the courtroom where more than 25 family members and friends waited to greet him. They shared hugs in the hallway outside the courtroom, with some family members weeping as they embraced McGuire. McGuire, 48, was arrested in August. He was charged with first-degree rape, first-degree sodomy and first-degree sexual abuse after a woman reported in April 2006 that he had raped her at a Florence home in December 1990. McGuire, a former Lexington resident who now lives in Jackson, told investigators and later testified he had consensual sex with the woman. During the trial, which began July 20, McGuire testified he and the woman had sex on the floor of his brother's home where she was baby-sitting. He told jurors the woman, who was 20 at the time, was a willing participant and added he did not force her to have sex. The woman testified last week that McGuire pulled her to the floor and forced her to have intercourse. She told jurors she was a virgin at the time and McGuire repeatedly ignored her pleas to stop. When defense attorney Jeff Austin asked the woman during cross-examination why she did not scream or yell, the woman replied she did not want to wake McGuire's niece and nephews. McGuire testified that if the woman had asked him to stop or told him no during the encounter, he would have stopped. The woman testified last week that she did not contact police in 1990 because she was too ashamed and embarrassed. She testified that a near-death experience after complications from surgery motivated her to contact police in 2006. After the verdict, the woman left the courtroom without commenting. McGuire, a former teacher at Clements High School in Limestone County, declined comment about the outcome of the trial. "My lawyers told me not to talk about it." Defense attorney Melinda Morgan Austin praised the jury and said the evidence was "difficult to listen to." "We have said all along that when you compare the stories, you would see that this is not a case of rape," Austin said. In his closing argument Monday, Jeff Austin, who also represented McGuire, compared his client's case to when a woman who accused three members of the Duke University lacrosse team of raping her in 2006. The charges against the three men were dismissed. Assistant Attorney General Pamela Casey said the jury faced a tough decision. "We stand by our case, but the jury has spoken," she said. "That's the way the system works." The attorney general's office prosecuted the case at the request of Lauderdale District Attorney Chris Connolly, who cited a possible conflict of interest because he knew McGuire and members of McGuire's family. Franklin County Circuit Court Judge Terry Dempsey was appointed to preside in the trial after Lauderdale judges asked to be recused because they too knew members of the McGuire family. Dennis Sherer can be reached at 740-5746 or dennis.sherer@TimesDaily.com. |
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| abb | Jul 30 2009, 05:03 AM Post #9 |
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http://iluvsa.blogspot.com/2009/07/obamas-accidental-gift-on-race.html Obama's accidental gift on race By Andrew Breitbart Whether he likes it or not, Sgt. Crowley is a potent symbol of how the union has managed to become more perfect, a Rosa Parks of rush-to-judgment "reverse racism." Less than a month after being confirmed as the nation's attorney General, Eric H. Holder Jr. called out the American people as "essentially a nation of cowards" for refusing to talk openly about race. So, thank you, professor Henry Louis Gates Jr. and President Obama, for starting the long-awaited national discussion on black and white identity - while averting our attention from the cockamamie scheme to nationalize health care. And kudos to the professor and the president for choosing Sgt. James Crowley of the Cambridge Police Department as the representative of the Caucasian-American side of this difficult and much-needed historic debate. Poetry was at work as the archetypal racist white cop who, according to the admittedly fact-challenged president, "stupidly" arrested his "friend." Sgt. Crowley waged a swift and effective public relations campaign that quashed the racism meme that Mr. Gates was recklessly pushing. Sgt. Crowley, as it happens, is the Cambridge police force's hand-picked racial profiling expert and was selected by a former black police commissioner. He also performed CPR on black basketball star Reggie Lewis, whose widow praised the public servant for doing everything he could to save her husband. Sgt. Crowley's own police department immediately jumped to his defense in a picture-perfect multiracial photo op and press conference. Even though Mr. Gates and Sgt. Crowley are poised to put their individual grievances to rest - over a beer negotiated by the president of the United States - the scope of the problem that brought them international attention lingers, underscoring the need for continued robust public dialogue. We're finally talking, Mr. Holder and Mr. Obama. Why stop now? Of course, the attorney general is essentially right in his assessment. Much of America is petrified to bring up race, especially in public forums - the media, in particular. But for exactly the opposite reasons Mr. Holder, the Obama administration and the brain trust of modern liberalism assert. Americans, especially nonblacks, are deeply fearful that the dynamic is predicated on an un-American premise: presumed guilt. Innocence, under the extra-constitutional reign of political correctness, liberalism's brand of soft Shariah law, must be proved ex post facto. Think not? Ask the Duke lacrosse team, which had 88 of the school's professors sign a petition that presumed their guilt before their side of the story was known. Even though the white athletes were exonerated and the liberal district attorney who pushed the case was dethroned, disbarred and disgraced, the professoriate that assigned guilt to its own students still refuses to apologize. Those signatories constituted 90 percent of Duke's African and African-American Studies Department, the subject-matter domain of Mr. Gates, Michael Eric Dyson, Cornel West and other tenure-wielding, highfalutin, iambic-pentameter-filibustering race baiters, and 60 percent of Duke's women's studies department, another hotbed of victimology posing as intellectualism. While the media was front and center in preparing for the public executions of the three Duke lacrosse players, they scurried away when they were proved innocent. The Democratic Media Complex, in its pursuit of Orwellian hate-crime legislation, reparations and sundry non-ameliorative resolutions to America's troubled racial past, pursues its victims with blood lust. But it cannot act in good faith to redeem those it has destroyed in countless rushes to judgment. (Richard Jewell, R.I.P.) The mainstream media choose to flaunt story lines that make white America appear guilty of continued institutional racism, while black racism against whites is ignored as an acceptable disposition given our nation's history. This double standard provides a game board on which the Revs. Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton can thrive in perpetuity and ensures racial progress is slowed. And that is why the Case of Sergeant Crowley vs. Professor Gates is so important. As is expected from professional race baiters, Mr. Gates instigated a public brouhaha over race. And Mr. Obama, a man who attended the Rev. Jeremiah Wright's racist sermons for 20 years, used the bully pulpit to grant his friend a national platform to condemn a man for doing his job. Sgt. Crowley, a proud and defiant public professional, played the moment perfectly and stopped his own assassination by media. Talk about a postmodern hero. Whether he likes it or not, Sgt. Crowley is a potent symbol of how the union has managed to become more perfect, a Rosa Parks of rush-to-judgment "reverse racism." Now that the facts of the case show that his friend the professor was the man doing the racial profiling, the president wants to end the discussion. Now we see what the attorney general meant when he spoke of cowards. Andrew Breitbart is publisher of the news portals Breitbart.com and Breitbart.tv. His latest endeavor, Big Hollywood (http://bighollywood.breitbart.com), is a group blog on Hollywood and politics from the center-right perspective. |
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| abb | Jul 30 2009, 05:05 AM Post #10 |
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http://leadandgold.blogspot.com/2009/07/straws-in-wind.html Wednesday, July 29, 2009 Straws in the wind When I was young and naïve I thought that media critics, public editors, and ombudsmen played a vital role in maintaining the standards of the profession of journalism. As I grew older and better informed, I was forced to put away such childish illusions. What is the true function of a public editor Media criticism and corralled rebellion CNN’s Howard Kurtz provides and on-going seminar in how to “cover” a beat while missing all the juicy stories. It is easy to do when you are more concerned with protecting the guild than with getting at the truth. This week’s “Reliable Sources” addressed a couple of sports-related issues. First up, of course, was the voyeur video of Erin Andrews. Kurtz condemned a couple of easy targets (bloggers and Murdoch-owned media) but he devoted much of his segment to the rehabilitation of Christine Brennan. Brennan initially responded to the Andrew’s video by blaming the victim. Since that time she has engaged in a laughable attempt to muddy the record. Christine Brennan Continues Her Erin Andrews Smarm Offensive Kurtz chose to give Brennan a platform for her self-serving spin, and never brought up her tweet or Facebook posting. He let her pretend that the whole affair was created by dishonest selective quotation. Kurtz then turned to the civil suit filed against Steelers’s quarterback Ben Roethlisberger. Both he and Brennan condemned ESPN for downplaying the story. No one suggested that maybe ESPN had learned something from the Duke lacrosse debacle and wanted to avoid a terrible rush to judgement. (I heard Colin Cowherd on “Sport Nation” and he explicitly cited the lacrosse case as the reason he was not going to discuss the story.) It is not surprising that Kurtz saw no need to mention the media’s performance during the Durham travesty. He has studiously avoided dealing with the media’s gross failures in that fiasco. There are odd echoes of the lacrosse case in Brennan’s criticism of Erin Andrews. For instance, in the early days of the frame-up, the media spent a lot of energy discussing and condemning “lax culture”, Duke’s party atmosphere, and the players “privileged” background. Brennan, before she backtracked, suggested that Erin Andrews tacitly encouraged her stalker by appealing to the “frat house” demographic. In both cases, journalists committed analysis by stereotype. If you are in the guild, you can get away with such things as long as you pick politically correct groups to disparage. Kurtz and Brennan were in solemn agreement that ESPN should have been more aggressive on the Roethlisberger story. (Howie knew it was a big story even though he did not know how to pronounce Big Ben’s name.) Curiously, Kurtz was uninterested in a story he helped break. |
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| Quasimodo | Jul 30 2009, 08:35 AM Post #11 |
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I don't necessarily disagree with this, but I do find the Herald Sun preaching caution here to be more than a bit hypocritical:
How many editorials did the HS print about the lax case? To what extent did stereotypes and issues of race,gender,and class enter into its pre-judgments? Has it suddenly seen the light, or would the editors of the HS still react in the same way if the lax case were to recur again today? |
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| jmoo | Aug 1 2009, 08:16 PM Post #12 |
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Exactly what I thought when I read the article Quas. No doubt the HS would have endorsed Nifong in Oct/Nov 2006 if the paper had done endorsments back then. Recall that they bad mouthed Ed Bradley and 60 minutes in October!! Most, if not all, of their editorials supported Nifong and the hoax -- in addition to many many "news" stories. If was just sickening to read that garbage at that time & know that's what Durham citizens were being fed... Ashley probably still believes CDR should prove their innocence in court. omg |
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| Baldo | Aug 1 2009, 08:49 PM Post #13 |
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It is like a sinner suddenly getting religious. You always wonder if they are being honest, or just politically correct? I always look back to March 2006 and frankly when I hear an apology for the horrible editorials I will start listening. Then maybe after their making amends to the 2006 Duke Lacrosse Team and their families I can take what they say at face value. And that's the way it is! |
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| jmoo | Aug 1 2009, 09:19 PM Post #14 |
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.... 
Edited by jmoo, Aug 1 2009, 09:20 PM.
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10:54 AM Nov 24
