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Use of "Alleged" in the Media

Link a link by Jackson, published on 14 November 2009
click the title to view this link from the www.slate.com/id domain
tagged as hasan and media
other nerds have left 4 comments below

One thing that drives me crazy about the media what I perceive on an overuse of the word "alleged". This article tries to explain why they do it.

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On the fence by Jackson :: NR7

Having read his reasons for these legal weasel-words, I still am on the fence about the continual use of them. I once heard alleged used 3 or 4 times in a single sentence about the same person.

The thrust of the article seems to be that out of deference to the legal system, they don’t want to bias prospective jurors. I kind of feel this is crap, because those potential jurors aren’t sitting in their cars or living rooms going “oh, they are just alleged serial killer-rapists. Well I will wait to get all the facts before I make up my mind about the alleged suspect.”

Of course, the reporters let you know in graphic detail what the alleged suspect allegedly did and how several eyewitnesses can put the alleged suspect at the scene. But they don’t want to bias those potential jurors.

So in the end it really seems like it is a tip of the hat to the ideal of innocent until proven guilty, but a really ineffective one, or maybe even a cynical one.

The point about the difference in saying “slayer,” “killer” and “murderer” was very interesting though. Didn’t realize that.

Posted 14 November 2009, Hide, Reply

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