If it was, there was no mention of it in Jeff Lehr's lead story in today's Joplin Globe. And if that is the case, then why didn't Globe editors change the first paragraph:
Joplin recently paid $5,000 to a 25-year-old black man to get him to drop any claims against the city and a white police officer who struck him in the face with an open-handed, martial-arts-type blow while the man was handcuffed and being dragged to a jail cell.
What difference does it make whether the settlement was made to a black man or a white man or any color for that matter? What difference does it make if the police officer was black or white unless there is an indication the beating is racially motivated?
And can you imagine a news article in the Globe saying, "Joplin recently paid $5,000 to a 25-year-old white man to get him to drop any claims..." And that is whether the officer in question was white or black.
This is one of those cases where I do not fault the reporter. A reporter's job is to get as much information as possible into the story. This should have been caught in the copy-editing and should have been eliminated.
4 comments:
I don't know...sounds like race baiting to me...
I suppose when the story s not all that intersting you have to find drama where you can. I personally think the man needs a better attorney $5000.oo is not a lot of money when you have a cop on tape breaking the law on your head. Makes one wonder what the story really ahould be about.
Another problem with this is that this version of the story made the wires, because the News-Misleader had a reprint of the story, races included.
The News-Needer editors hate white people, so of course they included the races.
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