The Infamous Lacrosse Case

The case surrounding a party, some students and a rogue district attorney has been more than just a part of my experience at the paper. When the story first broke, I was a wide-eyed freshman, watching the upperclassman editors report and write the stories and decide on how to handle the case that gathered the nation’s attention.

The one word I remember hearing around the newsroom was “allegedly.” In every story, in every interview, that word could be found. The editorial staff of Volume 101 never let writers forget that no conclusions had been made about the case and we could never assert otherwise. I believe their principle—stick to the facts and stick to the truths—has continued to guide volumes 102 and 103 through the coverage of the case.

Since then, similar cases have broken across the country, and other newspapers have had to learn how to handle them. Last December, three football players from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill were involved in one of those cases. But the twist is, the players were allegedly sexually assaulted and robbed at an off-campus apartment. And just a couple of days ago, our editor and news editor received an e-mail from a fellow college newspaper editor asking for advice on covering a similar case at Wright University. Perhaps the Duke lacrosse case is now the golden standard to what one should (or shouldn’t) do.

Only a couple of days ago the sports editor of The New York Times admitted that he “regretted” some of his editorial decisions during the coverage of the case. But what’s done is done. Instead of apologizing, reliving the past and blaming others for our own mistakes, what we need to do is move on. The best thing you can do after making a mistake is to learn from it and not make the same mistakes again (it’s surprising how you can never escape from the wisdom passed down from your parents).

I’m glad to see no other university sexual assault cases have caused the national uproar Duke lacrosse caused. Perhaps the media did learn something from the Duke case. Although how the national media treats a case is out of our hands, we can only do what we have continued to do: to be as honest and truthful in our coverage, no matter what the case is. Let’s watch and see how future cases play out. I certainly hope history won’t repeat itself.

-Wenjia Zhang, News Managing Editor