Savannah Crime

During class next week, we will discuss crime in Savannah. We are swinging around from national issues to discuss more local issues. But I have noticed something. Whenever I am reading Savannah Morning News, in this case I am referring to the website. I noticed that whenever the newspaper publishes a crime story, they like to put the mugshot of the person they arrest.

This happens in just about all crime stories and could be problematic for a number of reasons. In my Editing and Markup class, we talk about potentially libelous stories. And I think by continuously posting the mug shot of the suspect could cause more harm than good.

The reason being that most mugshots are printed so the suspect looks guilty for a trial. What happened to being innocent until proven guilty. Just because police have made an arrest, does not mean the people who are arrested are guilty. Police make arrest usually off of suspicion and sometimes they are wrong.

I understand that readers want to know who police arrest and that is fine. But if the public already suspects that your guilty, then it will take a long time before they recognize you as innocent.

Take the O.J. Simpson case for example. When a main news magazine posted his mugshot on the cover of the issue. Not only did they post his mugshot, they darkened his skin, which implies guilt. One can also look at the Trayvon Martin case and how the only picture that the public has of Zimmerman is his mugshot. All these instances imply guilt, which can be problematic if you are innocent.

Let me know your thoughts on the issue. Also, let me know if you have any solutions in the comment box below. Thanks!