SandBox Comments: Aspen Daily News "Sex, lies and newspapers"

Dave Danforth:

"But a couple of complications intervened. Last year’s Yale Daily editor, Vivian Yee, worked with the New York Times, as many Yale journalists do, and knew of the story. And last year’s opinion editor, Alex Stein, wrote a blistering note printed late last week by the widely respected journalist blogger Jim Romenesko criticizing the Yale paper’s decision.

“We have all been let down,” said Stein, a major in ethics, politics and economics. “In choosing to ignore this story, the News …  perpetuated the deceptive, now-shredded narrative of Pat’s ‘heroic choice,’” he continued, noting “the paper and its editor are also complicit in Yale’s culture of secrecy surrounding sexual assault.”

Bloggers responding to the explanation of the student editor respecting privacy in the face of unknown allegations commended him. Some suggested he was the only adult in a roomful of kids. Yet another said the episode “smelled of a coverup” by Yale and its paper.
Expectation of privacy is not usually raised in such cases. It arises from the Constitution’s Bill of Rights, and its protection against unreasonable searches. Privacy is not an explicitly listed right, but court decisions have widely cited it. However, those cases involved police actions. An outgrowth of libel law appears to confer a right to privacy that can be violated even where an allegation is true...."(Read more?  Click title)

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