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The Times, the Post, and Hofstra

By K.C. Johnson

The name ?Crystal Mangum? only appeared on the news pages of the New York Times after Mangum published her ?memoir.? Carrying its policy of not naming sexual assault accusers to an absurdist extreme, the Times refused to use Mangum?s name when reporting on Attorney General Cooper?s announcement that Mangum?s myriad, mutually contradictory claims were wholly false and without any evidence.While the Times made coverage of an alleged rape hundreds of miles away a priority (more than 100 articles), it has devoted scant attention to an equally spectacular claim of sexual assault just outside of New York City. (Doubtless the fact that the suspects in the Hofstra case were non-white had nothing to do with the Times? editorial judgment.) In the one non-AP article the Times thus far has seen fit to run (on the dismissal of the charges), reporter Anahad O?Connor did not reveal the name of the false accuser, Danmell Ndonye, while he did mention the names and ages of the four people Ndonye had falsely accused...continue to full post

Full post as published by Durham-in-Wonderland on September 23, 2009 (boomark / email).