Not in so many words, but they have many times printed a disclaimer saying that they do not print descriptions of suspects, including race, until they are charged with a crime.
Why not come out in the open and say what is, Scott, and by the way, let's see you prove it, too.
Don't have the time this morning and can't find the newspaper morgue option on Strib's web site. I did just email the Strib looking for verification, though.
The policy began in earnest around the summer of '91 when Derrick Dukes and Maurice Williams and two 16 year olds were driving around South Minneapolis beating and robbing people at random, primarily in the Lake Calhoun area.
The Strib refused to print descriptions of the suspects *despite* numerous victims and eye-witnesses and the ongoing nature of their attacks (4+ incidents), citing a policy of not printing descriptions of persons until they were charged with a crime.
The policy's genesis was from "community" complaints that every crime story written included a description of the perpetrator and very frequently was described as "black". "The community" felt that this was somehow unfair and created a negative stereotype.
rest at McDonald's coverup 889It represents the rationale behind the policy. I don't, so you can either come out and call me what you want to call me, or...
My "political" agenda is that newspapers are for printing the facts in news stories, not for withholding facts in support of a political agenda.