A little closer look (can't you guys make your web page body-copy bigger?)
Since this station posts their on-air copy to the web, it's easy to follow along at home and one can only imagine the joy of his court-appointed public defender in seeing his client convicted in the media even before his first court appearance.
Rather than attributing the statement to local police, the newsreader spoke with authority in announcing: "Michael Lewis, who shot Christopher Mhoon in the Cap n' Cork on South Anthony Blvd. earlier this month, has turned himself in". True, Lewis turned himself in, but a jury has not convicted Lewis of the shooting, he is only charged with the shooting. Stating that Lewis shot Mhoon and not attributing the charge to law enforcement or court officials leaves the radio station and newscaster in a sticky situation of having to defend against a possible defamation lawsuit.
From the AP Style Book:
Now, honestly, the chances of Mr. Lewis coming after the media outlet are very slim, since he has other issues to worry about. But, that's not to say that his enterprising public defender might not wave around a screen capture of this story in an attempt to show media bias or even ask for moving the trial out of town as a result of "poisoning the jury pool".
While we all may cringe when newsreaders throw the word "allegedly" around like a drunken, sailor.....is this case, it just might save a career.
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