November 5, 2007
One GWU Graffiti Culprit Caught, Banned from Campus
It's always interesting to compare collegiate news coverage with larger news outlets whenever a story breaks out of a campus publication. In the case of today's news about the apprehension of one suspect in the recent spate of hate graffiti on the George Washington University campus, the differences are pretty tangible.
Both the Examiner and the Washington Post have stories up about the arrest by University Police of an unnamed student for his or her involvement in drawing swastikas and racial slurs on dormitory room doors. But only The Hatchet explains how the student was apprehended and exactly which racial epithet we're talking about:
The suspect, a GW student whose name is being withheld by the University Police Department, was caught using footage from security cameras placed throughout New Hall. UPD was able to narrow down the time frame for the student's attacks by watching footage from Friday's incident in which the words "white power" were written along with a swastika. On Tuesday, the same student wrote "niggers" at the bottom of a poster advertising an event for a black engineering group.The Post and Examiner refer simply to a racial slur or epithet, without actually naming it. You can make an argument that repeating, in speech or in print, this particular slur only serves to propagate its use, but we think it's also an undeniably bold journalistic choice on the part of the Hatchet editors to spell out exactly what kind of hate speech we're talking about here. Check out their full coverage, which includes a helpful a timeline of events.
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Specifying the hate speech in news coverage only serves to eliminate the mystery and magic of the situation, and there's no fun there. Instead of understanding and sympathizing with the actual victims of such discrimination, it's better to be left in the dark free to believe whatever we want about hate crimes. Until reading this article, I for one was certain that the GW graffiti had to single out either gnomes or aliens (of the UFO-piloting variety).
What gives...do you actually believe the media should promote understanding? I like the sensationalizing, vague coverage provided by major media outlets. Oh, and on that note, FOX News is running teasers for a new bit: "You're about to die today...turn in Sunday night for the full investigation!"
er, the final sentence above should have read "tune in"
Off topic a bit, but "New Hall"? Is that just its placeholder name until some poor sap gives GW a few mill?
New Hall is near ten years old now. I lived there in 1998 when it was just opening and yeah we all assumed then it was New Hall until someone put up some cash..
As a current resident of the building we all though when $JT (I do love him) retired it would be named after him since he launched the effort to build the dorm. Instead, he had SPPPA renamed for him. Personally, I would rather have New Hall.