Not All Stories Have Two Sides

The Purdue Exponent fell into a classic media trap today where they pretended all stories have two sides. In a story printed today about a rally held at Purdue in support of the slain teenager in Florida, Trayvon Martin, they printed this ridiculous passage:  

“It’s about unity,” Whittaker said. “We’re all Boilermakers. It’s about making a statement that this is our house and it’s safe for everybody.”  

That sense of unity was not felt by four students standing across the street holding “ 

I will stand my ground” signs.J. David Held II, a freshman in the College of Liberal Arts, said the Stand Your Ground law is in place to protect people from assault.“ 

People are upset that the law is protecting (Zimmerman,) who was trying to defend himself,” Held said. 

Although he thought the death of Martin was terrible, Held does not think it was racially motivated, unlike the many participants who think the shooting happened because Martin was black. 

“I don’t think (race) has anything to do with it,” Held said. “It’s literally two racial minorities that’s in conflict.”Some in the national media have suggested that, other than Martin’s ethnicity, his clothing contributed to his death. Martin was wearing a hoodie at the time of the altercation, something some have said made Martin look suspicious.

To be clear, this is horribel journalism. This is a story about students rallying in support of student safety, the inherent racial injustices which plague our entire law enforcement and judicial systems, and a slain teenager in a racially motivated execution. 

Then they decide its about the insane stand your ground legislation trumpeted by the National Rifle Association because Democrats gave up on gun control at the beginning of the oughts, so the NRA had to stay relevant by inventing new issues. Which it turns out promotes vigilantism and street executions, but whatever. 

This story was about a united rally until the paper gave a voice to ignorant students who held a position that on its face is factually wrong, and printed it as though it was the 'other side' of the story. Instead it simply elevated the ignorance and provided them a platform to decry a rally that was nothing but well intentioned. This is bad journalism. These are stupid people.

By the way, this is a fucking gem, isn't it? 

“I don’t think (race) has anything to do with it,” Held said. “It’s literally two racial minorities that’s in conflict.”

As if racial minorities can't either be racist, or racist against each other. Way to quote this idiot.