Example Of A Perpetrator Research Paper

Samip Neupane
English 1158
Kim Martin
LC III- Visual Argument
12/08/2014
Media Portraying the Victim as a Perpetrator

On 27th July, during the 1996 summer Olympics, Atlanta Police received a 911-call saying that there was a bomb planted at Centennial Olympic Park. The police responded to the call by sending a unit to the area. Meanwhile, inside in the stadium, one of the guards stationed at the sound and light tower, Richard Jewell found an unattended bag. Suspecting the bag might contain explosives, Jewell notified a Georgia Bureau of Investigation officer about it. The officer called Bomb squad, and he, with Jewell started evacuating the area, but before the bomb squad could do anything, the bomb detonated killing two and injuring 111

people. (Ostrow) This incident overwhelmed media in late July 1996 as they jostled to find out what really happened. Jewell was recognized for his use of discretion and his willingness to help evacuate the park. He was celebrated as a “hero” for the next few days.
This bombing incident gained a lot of attention because of the ongoing Olympics, which was an international event with a global audience. This was one of the perfect opportunities for journalists to establish their intellectual and journalistic prowess in the public. So, the journalists began to meticulously observe the situation to find something, some lead to satiate the hunger in their pen. Jewels fame was not to last long. When journalists found out the investigators were doing a background search on Jewell, they extrapolated on the news and made inferences, which was slightly distorted from reality.
Journalists were really desperate to know about the incident.

They didn’t hesitate to step over the line to find out more about the situation and own the news. Kathy Scruggs, one of the Journal Constitution reporter somehow found out that FBI suspected Jewell and that he fit the pattern of the bomber. When Scruggs also learnt about the situation through her source at Atlanta Police Department, she along with her colleague Ron Martz wrote a news report titled, “FBI suspects ‘hero’ guard may have planted bomb”. (Ostrow) Although, the reporters received the story from anonymous sources, they did not mention it in the news report so that the public would find the news more credible. In matter of hours other news report that depicted Jewell as a suspect emerged while in fact FBI was not so sure about that, as they knew that Jewell could not have made the 911 call as he was far from a place the phone call was made.
CNN published similar news without any official information from FBI or Atlanta Police. A reporter in NBC Brokaw, stated in a news broadcast that FBI were making a case to arrest and prosecute Jewell and they were just looking for final evidences to hold him convict while FBI was still doing a background search on him. Other NBC reporters mentioned that Jewell was on the top of the suspect list and that he could be arrested the next morning. Brokaw also said that he had "very high-ranking federal law enforcement officials in Washington and in Atlanta" confirm the story

(Ostrow).
Jewell denied all the allegations made to him by the media, but his statement flew over the media as the allegations against him flooded the media. The hero was now the villain responsible for the incident. The media painted an image in the public; through their wordings and implications the he was the convict. Some journalists like Dave Kindred went as far as comparing Jewell to an infamous serial killer Wayne Williams. This continued for about two weeks where media accused Jewell for the incident, until his lawyer said clarified that considering the motive that was assumed (lone bomber) it was physically impossible for him to have made the 911- call. Accusations subdued for the next few days. Jewell gave a polygraph test that which he passed and on October 26, US officials clear Richard Jewell of any involvement in the incident. (Case Study Richard Jewell and the Olympic Bombing)
Later, in an interview Richard Jewell lamented over the fact that he and his family had live in fear for 88 day for the crime he did not commit. The importance of media cannot be overlooked in today’s society because of their influence of information, education entertainment and other important aspects of life. The above incident where media portrays a victim as a perpetrator shed doubts over the credibility of media and decreases public’s trust on media. So, we should bear in mind that everything published or printed might not be true; sometimes victims are billed as perpetrators.
This is done in a number of ways. Some journalists often use ambiguous terms or strange wordings to rouse public interest in the news that gradually shifts away from the truth. In the Jewell incident, the news published by Journal Constitution had the work suspect in the headline while the investigators were just running a background check on Jewell. These types of writings and wordings often convey a wrong meaning to public. Some words that are considered strong are sometimes used in a trivial context, which as a result misrepresents the truth. So, It’s difficult to trust everything we read, because journalists sometimes use ambiguous wordings to convey their perspective, instead of the truth.
One of the important elements required in building trust for any news is citation. Journalists often hesitate to cite anonymous sources because they want their information to be trusted, they do not want to credit their information to a source that public can’t access or verify. So they often use an approach where the paper builds up on itself without any citations. In this process, some information might be fabricated to build trust in public in the absence of a proper source. The news report “FBI suspects ‘hero’ guard may have planted bomb” uses this technique to avoid citing anonymous sources. The news sketched a blurry picture of Jewell through which public mistook him as a suspect and developed a confidence from the public.
Some journalists’ represent the incident was the use of details on top of details to create a feel or state for a scene. These types of news/ writing tend to influence belief or attitude about a particular thing, because the writings are often prejudiced and constantly repeat either good or bad about something, which finally leads us to believing it. One of the writers Dave Kindred used this technique by listing all of the infamous acts done by Jewell and comparing him with a serial killer and drawing similarities between them. (Ostrow) Readers should be aware of this of writing style, because it can be used to create a negative image of a otherwise innocent person in public or vice versa.
Along with that, some news articles are based on very little evidences, which are then extrapolated to build up something. These types of pieces do not accurately reflect the real scenario. In the contest of getting the news done and gaining popularity, Media/Journalists often make inference and exaggerate information and convey a different picture to public. This was frequently seen in the Jewell incident where journalists were building up news upon news without any authentic press release. These types of information can be barely trusted, and we, as responsible people must be careful over the say of media.
Journalism nowadays is demanding. There is a lot of competition and pressure on journalists. It is almost impossible for them to be accurate every single time; because sometimes the way things look might not be what they actually are. Journalists are often faced by the question of verifying the sources, in which case, the amount of verification needed is also debatable. In addition to that, it’s often tricky to find the right time to publish any news, especially ones where new leads appear regularly.
Despite all the obstacles, journalists should always verify their news from different sources before publishing.

News reporters should use their discretion and publish accurate and true information. In this era of technology, news and information travel across the globe in a matter of minutes, so the role of media is even more important. As readers we should be more careful about what we read and what to believe, which can be done by cross-referencing the information with other credible sources. Media, on its part should be more impartial and critical of the news they publish so that there aren’t any Richard Jewells in the

future.

Works Cited
Ostrow, Ronald J. "Richard Jewell Case Study." Richard Jewell Case Study. Columbia University, n.d. Web. 01 Dec. 2014.
"Case Study Richard Jewell and the Olympic Bombing." PowerShow. N.p., n.d. Web. 01 Dec. 2014.