phill4paul
01-05-2015, 04:13 PM
Thug attacks female MTA employee at Bronx train station: cops (video)
And here’s the lede of that story:
A hulking brute grabbed a 28-year-old MTA employee up in a bear hug at a Bronx train station, shoved her onto the platform and began choking her in an unprovoked attack – then ran away smiling, authorities said Wednesday.
Here’s the story after they found out that the culprit was a police officer:
NYPD cop turns self in for attacking female MTA employee
And here’s the lede of that story:
Police Officer Mirjan Lolja, 37, was suspended after the assault in which the Metropolitan Transportation Authority worker — who was on-duty and in her uniform — was allegedly put into a bear hug, thrown to the floor and choked, cops said.
Where's the "thug?" The "hulking brute?"
Notice anything? Gone is the evocative “thug” in the headline and the “hulking brute” of the lede, and the sensationalism of the label of an “unprovoked” attack, replaced by plainspoken and bare nouns. Gone, too, is the directness of the active voice, replaced by a circumspect passive voice, accompanied by the (necessary) lawyerly “allegedly”. The callousness of him smiling has been dropped, too, demoted to the second paragraph. This is no surprise — it’s just an example of the subtle way in which our media defers to and genuflects before law enforcement, shaping and coloring the narrative in their favor.
Next time you call someone a thug, New York Daily News, do make sure he’s not a cop instead, just going about, doing his duty, giving out bear hugs of love.
Read more at http://wonkette.com/570758/smirking-thug-who-attacked-lady-subway-worker-was-an-nypd-cop-surprise#XWpsAq7YgGspvMJC.99
And here’s the lede of that story:
A hulking brute grabbed a 28-year-old MTA employee up in a bear hug at a Bronx train station, shoved her onto the platform and began choking her in an unprovoked attack – then ran away smiling, authorities said Wednesday.
Here’s the story after they found out that the culprit was a police officer:
NYPD cop turns self in for attacking female MTA employee
And here’s the lede of that story:
Police Officer Mirjan Lolja, 37, was suspended after the assault in which the Metropolitan Transportation Authority worker — who was on-duty and in her uniform — was allegedly put into a bear hug, thrown to the floor and choked, cops said.
Where's the "thug?" The "hulking brute?"
Notice anything? Gone is the evocative “thug” in the headline and the “hulking brute” of the lede, and the sensationalism of the label of an “unprovoked” attack, replaced by plainspoken and bare nouns. Gone, too, is the directness of the active voice, replaced by a circumspect passive voice, accompanied by the (necessary) lawyerly “allegedly”. The callousness of him smiling has been dropped, too, demoted to the second paragraph. This is no surprise — it’s just an example of the subtle way in which our media defers to and genuflects before law enforcement, shaping and coloring the narrative in their favor.
Next time you call someone a thug, New York Daily News, do make sure he’s not a cop instead, just going about, doing his duty, giving out bear hugs of love.
Read more at http://wonkette.com/570758/smirking-thug-who-attacked-lady-subway-worker-was-an-nypd-cop-surprise#XWpsAq7YgGspvMJC.99