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This whole Nifong thing...

Discussion in 'Journalism topics only' started by TyWebb, Jun 16, 2007.

  1. Sam Mills 51

    Sam Mills 51 Well-Known Member

    Maybe you're right. Problem is, Mike Nifong had the same attitude. Look where it got him.
     
  2. amraeder

    amraeder Well-Known Member

    We were running most of the case on the news side, but when the Nifong hearings started, news decided not to take the story and I had way too much space in sports for the little that was going on that day so I took it. Not sure what happened today, because I wasn't on the desk.
     
  3. Sam Mills 51

    Sam Mills 51 Well-Known Member

    Nifong was disbarred.
     
  4. sportschick

    sportschick Active Member

    No crying victim to it. A low-life tried to make a name for himself by prosecuting them for something they didn't do. Now I don't think they're nice people (one of them was convicted in a gay bashing, after all) and I think that the team's overall pattern misbehavior has been looked over by a lot of people, but they absolutely did not deserve to be accused or charged with rape.

    The only reason these boys didn't get railroaded into prison is because their parents had the means (i.e. the money) to fight the charges on a grand scale. This case is a grand example of the legal system running amuck (sp), and damned embarrassing for all of us.

    How many people who lacked the means for the vigorous defense these boys got are sitting in prison right now for something they didn't do? That prospect scares the crap out of me.
     
  5. John

    John Well-Known Member

    Well said (or written).
     
  6. DanOregon

    DanOregon Well-Known Member

    This thing was bound to end badly no matter what Nifong did. He should have kept his mouth shut, except to say that the physical evidence did not back up the dancer's statements. And just dealt with the backlash from the supporters of the dancer.
     
  7. forever_town

    forever_town Well-Known Member

    I haven't really done anything with this at my shop, but I would likely put something in news.

    The whole case blew way past the world of sports when the accuser first opened her mouth.
     
  8. cake in the rain

    cake in the rain Active Member

    Wow. I'm truly impressed by your sense of justice.
     
  9. RedSmithClone

    RedSmithClone Active Member


    WOW.

    A minor story? I think you are wrong.

    Whether you think these "rich boys" should be cried over is another story altogether.

    This is a story of a publicly elected DA, who played the race card in an attempt to drum up support for his campaign, and in the process did all he could to send innocent citizens of this country to jail. Wether you have money or not, if you are innocent, you are innocent. I think this whole Nifong portion of the overall story is even bigger than the rape allegations portion. Mostly because the poor stripper - who should be prosecuted for lying and filing false charges - and this dumb ass of a DA tried to and although the charges were dropped did ruin the lives of three INNOCENT PEOPLE!!!


    - As far as where it plays in the paper. Definitely news. Although the day of Nifong's hearing, the lead news designer told me they were going to do a two paragraph brief tucked away inside and inside section. I felt that was wrong, and a disservice to our readers, who from the beginning were slammed with the Duke Lax case on the cover or at least in prominent fashion on the World and Nation page.
    So needing another story anyway for my sports cover I told him I thought that was messed up and I took it for my sports cover.
    Saturday night I talked with the Sunday News editor who is basically 2B on our depth chart for editors and he agreed with me. He ended up taking the Nifong disbarment to run as a full story not brief on Nation page.

    This is what I can't stand about a lot of newspapers. They push and push and push stories that have national appeal then when it doesn't turn out the way they wanted or doesn't end up being as sexy an ending as hoped, they cut it to two paragraph briefs on Page 30.

    I still say this is a very important story in the grand scheme of things and to say, especially after this ending it is a nothing story makes a person sound stupid.
     
  10. Appgrad05

    Appgrad05 Active Member

    We put everything in news that had to with the case. When the team was marching for a national title, it was in sports.
     
  11. Walter Burns

    Walter Burns Member

    When the story broke, we in sports took it. We've had it since.
    But the old cops reporter in me said something was wrong from the word go. DA pursuing a case that started out as he-said/she-said and went downhill -- an alleged white-on-black case in a town that's mostly black with some ill will against one of the highest-cost universities in the country?
    This was bad to begin with, and mercifully, what passes for justice in this country won out.
     
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