MANY YOUNG journalists I know get into the business in part because they want to deliver truth to society. They believe that the newspapers they work for strive for objectivity and fairness in reporting. Yet no matter how hard they try to give an unfiltered version of events, there are certain subjects that, at all levels of the game, provoke accusations of bias. In my experience, the top three most controversial topics are Israel, elections and race.
Last week The Cavalier Daily ran two articles on a story about a black man arrested and accused of sexually assaulting a University graduate student; the allegations later proved to be false. Tuesday's article detailed the arrest ("City man arrested for sexual assault, Sept. 6), and Friday's was about the man's release based on DNA tests that cleared him of wrongdoing ("City man cleared in sexual assault investigation," Sept. 9).
Some readers were concerned about the coverage, especially the prominent placement of the man's mug shot: front page, above the fold. One reader was concerned that the placement would perpetrate stereotypes about violent black males.
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