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If I lived in the area, this is what my Letter to the Editor would be:
The Missoulian made an excellent decision of digging into the university’s lackadaisical reporting of sexual crimes, but it did a very poor job of showing why many universities have the same problem. After reading the Associated Press story in the Grand Forks Herald’s April 24, 2012 story called “At UND and on Campuses Across the Nation, Debate Continues Over Civil Rights and Rape,” I noticed some key differences between the Grand Forks Herald’s investigative journalism, and that of the Missoulian.
First, the Grand Forks Herald took an objective approach by assessing not only the hardships of a victim of a sexual crime, but also assess the hardships of an innocent victim of false accusations. The Herald focused on a University of North Dakota student who had been falsely accused of rape, and the fight the student had to go through in order to clear his name. However, the Herald also showed how a Western Washington University female student who had allegedly been raped kept seeing her assailant on campus, and how difficult it was for her to stop living in fear. The Missoulian, on the other hand, never has said there are victims of false accusations. I don’t recall any investigative analysis by the Missoulian that showed how a false accusation of rape can be extremely detrimental to an innocent person’s future. This lack of analysis shows there is no objective analysis by the Missoulian on this particular issue.
Second, I don’t recall the Missoulian having too much investigative analysis on the due process difficulties of Title IX, but I do recall the Missoulian’s analysis that U of M’s due process was bad, and that football players seemed to be getting special treatment. The Grand Forks Herald, on the other hand, tried to explain the intricacies of the due process of Title IX on college campuses, the history of how reporting sexual crimes under Title IX has changed, and why schools in general, and the University of North Dakota in particular, are having difficulties balancing Title IX requirements while protecting the victim of a sexual crime. Unlike the Grand Forks Herald, the Missoulian’s lack of investigative analysis regarding the due process of Title IX on college campuses is a poor showing of good investigative journalism because the Missoulian’s analysis does not give the reader any way to assess what is wrong with U of M’s reporting of sexual crimes. Simply calling something bad does not make for good investigative journalism, and shows that the Missoulian, or maybe just one reporter, is trying to use the medium of a newspaper to give a personal point of view.
In conclusion, I am very glad the Missoulian brought this issue to light. The sexual crime rate at The University of Montana has been too high for far too long, and the sexual crime reporting system for the university needed to change at all levels. However, the Missoulian did not do good investigative journalism showing how hard it is to stay in compliance with Title IX while protecting the victim. The Missoulian over-simplified the issue and discredited itself by giving a personal opinion, rather that an objective investigation.
If I lived in the area, this is what my Letter to the Editor would be:
The Missoulian made an excellent decision of digging into the university’s lackadaisical reporting of sexual crimes, but it did a very poor job of showing why many universities have the same problem. After reading the Associated Press story in the Grand Forks Herald’s April 24, 2012 story called “At UND and on Campuses Across the Nation, Debate Continues Over Civil Rights and Rape,” I noticed some key differences between the Grand Forks Herald’s investigative journalism, and that of the Missoulian.
First, the Grand Forks Herald took an objective approach by assessing not only the hardships of a victim of a sexual crime, but also assess the hardships of an innocent victim of false accusations. The Herald focused on a University of North Dakota student who had been falsely accused of rape, and the fight the student had to go through in order to clear his name. However, the Herald also showed how a Western Washington University female student who had allegedly been raped kept seeing her assailant on campus, and how difficult it was for her to stop living in fear. The Missoulian, on the other hand, never has said there are victims of false accusations. I don’t recall any investigative analysis by the Missoulian that showed how a false accusation of rape can be extremely detrimental to an innocent person’s future. This lack of analysis shows there is no objective analysis by the Missoulian on this particular issue.
Second, I don’t recall the Missoulian having too much investigative analysis on the due process difficulties of Title IX, but I do recall the Missoulian’s analysis that U of M’s due process was bad, and that football players seemed to be getting special treatment. The Grand Forks Herald, on the other hand, tried to explain the intricacies of the due process of Title IX on college campuses, the history of how reporting sexual crimes under Title IX has changed, and why schools in general, and the University of North Dakota in particular, are having difficulties balancing Title IX requirements while protecting the victim of a sexual crime. Unlike the Grand Forks Herald, the Missoulian’s lack of investigative analysis regarding the due process of Title IX on college campuses is a poor showing of good investigative journalism because the Missoulian’s analysis does not give the reader any way to assess what is wrong with U of M’s reporting of sexual crimes. Simply calling something bad does not make for good investigative journalism, and shows that the Missoulian, or maybe just one reporter, is trying to use the medium of a newspaper to give a personal point of view.
In conclusion, I am very glad the Missoulian brought this issue to light. The sexual crime rate at The University of Montana has been too high for far too long, and the sexual crime reporting system for the university needed to change at all levels. However, the Missoulian did not do good investigative journalism showing how hard it is to stay in compliance with Title IX while protecting the victim. The Missoulian over-simplified the issue and discredited itself by giving a personal opinion, rather that an objective investigation.
