Everything that happened here fits into a growing problem in mainstream newsrooms; the injection of political values even into straight reporting, undermining the very purpose of journalism.
There were so many red flags to this story yet people like the NY Times ran with it because it fit their narrative. The only red flag missing was the Duke player saying after they called me the n-word they yelled, "This is MAGA country!"
What are the repercussions here? Who will take responsibility for the lie? Will the NY Times issue an apology? Will Duke suspend the volleyball player who issued the accusations? Unlikely. We live in an age where increasingly nobody is forced to take responsibility for their actions.
Suspend the player? Why? I'd give her the benefit of the doubt and say that this is probably a case of cognitive bias, i.e., she heard what she expected to hear. All her life she's been taught that white people are virulent racists*, and BYU may be one of the whitest places on the planet. So of course they must be yelling racial slurs at her! In other words, it's not really her fault; it's the ocean she swims in.
ReplyDelete*Her mother is apparently quite a piece of work in that regard.
There should be some punishment for the player for making these false claims. When none of her teammates or coaches could back up her story and they were on the court with her - she needs to face some punishment.
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