I’ve been thinking of the word “even” lately. It’s weird how such a small word can completely jeopardize the integrity of a news story. Here‘s the article that prompted my pondering.
The reporter in this case used “even” two specific times…and each is an example of outright editorializing.
1. “Even “Son of Sam” killer David Berkowitz, who confessed to killing six people in the 1970s when he was in his 20s, has had four parole hearings…”
translation: “Dear Reader, the horrible, cruel, immoral justice system in the united states is so screwed up that it lets this crazy killer that everyone knows about have a parole but not this beautiful innocent darling little murderer…”
2. “Two cases in which juvenile offenders got life without parole didn’t even involve murder…”
translation: Once again: the ridiculous, people-hating justice system goes so far that they sentence innocent children to life in jail…(no I’m not going to tell you what they were convicted of; that might hurt my point!)”
And there are several other parts of this article that make it worse…a small word here, an un-substantiated claim there…:
“It made no difference that at the time of the deadly scuffle, Lotts was barely old enough to watch PG-13 movie and too young to drive, vote or buy beer.”
PLEASE journalist, tell us how you really feel.
“Lotts is one of at least 73 U.S. inmates — most of them minorities — who were sentenced to spend the rest of their lives in prison for crimes committed when they were 13 or 14, according to the Equal Justice Initiative, a nonprofit organization in Alabama that defends indigent defendants and prisoners.”
First of all, are you seriously taking stats from a non-prof with an obvious angle and trying to tell us they are not at least suspicious? And…most are minorities? Can you clarify that? You can’t just use a word like “most” and not define it!
Here’s another unsubstantiated “most”:
“Across the country, most juvenile offenders and many adults are given a second chance…”
What does that even mean? Again, you cannot just SAY the word “most” and then that makes it statistically true!
Sheesh. I mean, this article isn’t even about something I’m particularly passionate about…and I still can’t read it without gagging.
I hope I’m not the only one who gets annoyed by this stuff.
By the way…did everyone see this? Man this guy is crazy…some people just hate the media to hate the media. (I don’t, I promise!!) You’ve got to hand it to the reporter, though…he really kept his cool and didn’t let Billy Bob get away with it:
