Tribune Continues Selective Crime Reporting
The Tribune performed a wonderful service for the people of Wrigleyville today by reporting on the perpetator still at large in the rape of a woman in the 3500 block of north Wilton Avenue on Saturday. So far their coverage has included two stories, a composite sketch of the rapist and a video community alert. CLTV has been on the block with its cameras to interview a police spokesman. (Neither the Tribune nor CLTV mentioned the assault took place only 2 blocks from Tribune property at Wrigley Field, as we believe they certainly would have done had it occurred near US Cellular).
As we said, we believe the Tribune has performed a wonderful service by alerting Wrigleyville residents to the presence of a rapist in their neighborhood. We just wonder why a newspaper with "Chicago" in its name only performs this service for Wrigleyville residents.
There were 20 cases of aggravated criminal sexual abuse -- just one of a dozen categories of sex offense -- reported to Chicago Police from Sept. 5-Oct. 19, the period for which the most recent statistics are available. Those assaults took place on sidewalks, in streets, in residences, on school grounds, even in a hospital. Most of them took place on the South or West sides of Chicago. We can find no record in the Tribune archives that the Tribune covered any of them, much less warned citizens about a perpetrator in their area.
In fact, the only recent coverage of sexual assault other than the Wrigleyville rape in the Tribune derives from court reporting, a stage of the legal process that occurs after a perpetrator has been removed from the community.
If this concern sounds familiar, it's because we've raised it before. As in that case, black suspect in a wealthy, mostly white neighborhood. Is that what it takes for rape to be news?
You may think we're being facetious, Tribune, when we call you the newspaper of Wrigleyville, but it just flatly expresses the way people in "the rest" of Chicago feel about your selective reporting.
As we said, we believe the Tribune has performed a wonderful service by alerting Wrigleyville residents to the presence of a rapist in their neighborhood. We just wonder why a newspaper with "Chicago" in its name only performs this service for Wrigleyville residents.
There were 20 cases of aggravated criminal sexual abuse -- just one of a dozen categories of sex offense -- reported to Chicago Police from Sept. 5-Oct. 19, the period for which the most recent statistics are available. Those assaults took place on sidewalks, in streets, in residences, on school grounds, even in a hospital. Most of them took place on the South or West sides of Chicago. We can find no record in the Tribune archives that the Tribune covered any of them, much less warned citizens about a perpetrator in their area.
In fact, the only recent coverage of sexual assault other than the Wrigleyville rape in the Tribune derives from court reporting, a stage of the legal process that occurs after a perpetrator has been removed from the community.
If this concern sounds familiar, it's because we've raised it before. As in that case, black suspect in a wealthy, mostly white neighborhood. Is that what it takes for rape to be news?
You may think we're being facetious, Tribune, when we call you the newspaper of Wrigleyville, but it just flatly expresses the way people in "the rest" of Chicago feel about your selective reporting.
Labels: sexual assault
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