It sounds like it's a story about a Satelitte Dish Repairman that raped a woman.

Raped is probably in quotation marks to signify that someone else used the term rape so that the author cannot be charged with slander.

Yeah, but they use the term rape elsewhere in the story...the scare quote thing just irks me to death. The title just as easily could have used the word accused.

plus he was convicted

sorry, he was charged, not convicted.

While I would have preferred and "Allegedly" in the headline, the quotes around "Rape" make no sense unless the editor is trying to imply it was not really a rape. I don't get it.

No, he wasn't convicted yet...it happened last week. And if you notice, the other time in the story that the word rape is used, it's once in a quote from the detective and the other time is to say he was charged with rape.

I think in this instance, the author isn't trying to say "rape" as in it wasn't really rape and she loved doing the deed, but rather to use the term rape in the headline without the possibility of being charged with slander.

Either way, the post IS lame.

I can't find the scare quote that you're talking about? Unless you mean using the headline to elicit a scared reaction, which I agree is lame.

By "the post", I obviously meant, "The New York Post is lame" and not "your post is lame". Sorry I didn't capitalize to make sure I was clear.

TT, this is what I meant by scare quotes.

Thanks, never heard the term before...

Anyways, I think that the quotes used in the headline are used to quote Sgt. Richard Zito, and not to denote that it ironically wasn't a rape. (Like I said before).

I don't give New York Post readers enough credit to think that they would ever even notice the quotes around rape and deduce that it could mean that no rape occured. Also, nothing in the story indicates that the author thinks that the accused is anything but a rapist. The ironic tone is simply not there.

This cartoon comes to mind instantly

http://catandgirl.com/view.php?loc=301

Yes, 'rape' is in quotes because it was a quote from Detective Sgt. Zito. You can tell they are not sympathetic to the accused because of the unironic, unquoted, use of the word 'fiend' in the headline.

What fascinates me is that the article is mostly typical journalism. You get a summary paragraph, a long quote explaining the crime, and a short narative explaining how they got him. But in the middle of it all you get this:

"After the sex assault, Houston left the home without fixing the TV problem, said Zito."

If I had 11 sentences to explain what had happened I would not choose to use that one. But there's something great about it. The rest of the article is formulaic crime reporting, of the sort I've read a thousand times. But there's just something about that one detail that lifts it above all that.

Can you imagine if he'd actually gone downstairs and starting fixing the tv?

No matter what the intent of the quotes, it was a poor, insensitive choice. Someone who just read the title wouldn't get the right impression of what was in the article.

What a "fair and balanced" headline.

No irony atall /sarc

This just in..... Booth "assasinates" Lincoln.

The fact that he did not fix the TV points more towards his guilt. But, perhaps I am being optomistic.

I don't know which offends me more: The fact that "rape" is in quotes, or the fact that the TV repairman is referred to in pseudo-exploitation flick lingo as a "fiend." This is quite possibly the most disturbingly worded headline I've ever seen.

Cheers,

TH

I wrote to the author of this article:

From: FairlyOdddMother@XXXXXX.com [mailto:FairlyOdddMotherXXXXXX.com]
Sent: Thu 6/15/2006 7:39 PM
To: Kieran.Crowley
Subject: why quotes around "rape"

In your article TV-REPAIR FIEND 'RAPES' TEEN By KIERAN CROWLEY - New York Post Online Edition: News why did you put quotes around the word "rape?" Do you realize that this looks like the "rape" didn't actually happen as reported?

Her response:

Subject: RE: why quotes around "rape"
Date: 6/16/2006 11:38:29 A.M. Central Standard Time
From: Kieran.Crowley@nypost.com
Reply To:
To: FairlyOdddMother@XXXXXX.com
CC:
BCC:
Sent on:

I understand what you mean but the gentleman has not been convicted of rape yet, only charged.

gentleman?

Hi there,

While I sympathise with the idea that putting rape in quotes gives the wrong impression, from a journalist's point of view, it's essentially.

If someone has been charged but not convicted of a crime, and you write a story - particularly a story with a strong headline - accusing them of that crime, you could be sued for libel and also potentially cause a mis-trial.

That's the situation in the UK, anyway.

Judges go harder on newspapers that take on other people's accusations as fact (eg: the police officer's statement that a rape took place), because it's moving away from neutral reporting.

If the tv repair man is convicted, then the paper will take away the quotes!

In fact, this news story is much more strongly worded than many stories reporting alleged rapes.

I understand what you mean but the gentleman has not been convicted of rape yet, only charged.

Exactly, which is why a decent, professional and ubiased headline would best read: TV-Repair Man Accused of Raping Teen.

If they're worried about being unbiased and perhaps slander, why use words like fiend?

Most likely explanation, in my opinion:

The reporter was really busy, and didn't write the story very carefully. Then the editors were really busy, and didn't check the store carefully.

Alternately: When they set up the front page, the title didn't quite fit right, so they took "Allegedly" out and added the quotes.

Not to suggest that the title isn't creepy and disturbing (which it is), just that people in the media are pretty lazy when it comes to making sure things make sense and don't have errors.

This was my email:
I was wondering why you or your editor decided to use the title
"TV-REPAIR FIEND 'RAPES' TEEN" instead of "TV-REPAIR FIEND RAPES
TEEN"? If the person was picked up quickly after the victim was
examined by a hospital, which have to have what is called a "rape kit"
to collect evidence and determine if there was forceful sexual
contact, why it it considered something to put in quotation?

This headline simply strikes me as odd and a tad insensitive, as the
connotation is that it is a question of almost gossip and not a full
on allegation and something that caused a person to be charged with a
crime. A person is not accused of 'murder' or of 'car-jacking.'
Why when a girl is raped the person is charged with 'rape'?

These are not just rhetorical, I truly want to understand why this
choice was made. I am sure that many others do as well.

I can see the laziness issue, where "rape" replaced Allegedly/Arrested For/Accused Of.

Yet, why call the man a Fiend? If they are THAT concerned with libel, why throw names?

Thanks, never heard the term before.games