Crime, race and media hypocrisy Part II: Press no longer describes suspects

On October 4, 2011, WAVY-TV 10's website ran a story about a woman being sexually assaulted on Sunday, entitled: “Woman, 18, sexually assaulted…Chesapeake police seek suspect.”

It was obvious from the headline that a young woman was attacked in the city of Chesapeake (Va.), and that her assailant was still at-large.

The article went on to describe the attack itself, the time and location of the crime and a phone number to call if the reader should have any information on the suspect.

However, one key piece of information was missing from the report…a description of the suspect.

Remember, the assailant is still on the loose at this time and obviously remained a danger to other women in the area, in this case, the Norfolk Highlands neighborhood.

Curious as to if WAVY received a suspect description from the police, this reporter contacted WAVY’s newsroom and was informed that they did indeed have a description.

I was told by an employee who wished to remain anonymous that he was not sure as to why the description was not posted, but gave it to me over the phone.

It turns out the suspect in the sexual assault was described as an Hispanic male in his 20s or 30s, last seen wearing a white tank top.

Now, perhaps the good reporters at WAVY simply forgot to include it, but a growing trend in the mainstream press may point to a more nefarious motive.

In July 2009, the Loudoun Times-Mirror ran a story in their online version about an armed robbery, “Four men robbed in Sugarland Run.” The piece went on to say that while the men were walking, three men approached them and one suspect showed the men his gun and demanded their money.

The article gave the description of the man from the Loudoun County Sheriff‘s Office as “6 feet tall, 170 pounds, and was last seen wearing a white shirt and blue pants.” A tip line number for the Sheriff was given.

Again, a key component to the suspect’s description was left-out of the story. How could anyone ever help identify the suspect if they do not even know his race?

My question then became…Was this intentional on behalf of the Loudoun Times-Mirror or simply an oversight?

I called the newspaper and spoke with a staff writer who wished to remain nameless, who told me that the paper follows the AP Stylebook and that “all mention of race must be taken out of every story.”

However, the latest edition of the Associated Press (AP) Stylebook allows the identification of someone by race if it is important to the story. The guidelines state: "the term 'black' is acceptable for a person of the black race." When offering a description of a dangerous suspect still at large, race is definitely important.

I was also told by the staffer that the suspect was in fact black.

The staffer told me that he/she would like to list the race of every suspect, and finds it ridiculous that the paper no longer allows it.

Given those standards, every six foot tall man could be the suspect if only he put on a white shirt and blue pants!…That includes thousands of police officers!

If this country has now reached the point where we are so afraid to be called racist, that we cannot even give an accurate description of a violent criminal…we are truly lost.

Forsaking safety in the name of political correctness is of course, detrimental and actually insulting to all races.

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