Can one be led to make an inference by media?

mike65

Tonight watching the RTE news report on the death of Celine Cawley I could not help but wonder if something was being inferred by the reporter Paul Reynolds.

Twice it was mentioned that her husband fought the assailant but the second time it was the use of the words "he said he fought". It may be nothing but my overactive imagination but that wording was unnessessary.

Do journalists check thier work for unintended inference?

Pen1987

They are not unintended the vast majority of the time.

There are a few regular inferences that most journalists will use to get their point across without actually saying it straight.

You can be sure that the husband in that case is considered a strong suspect by journalists who know more than they allowed to print for legal reasons. The gardai probably told the journalists such off the record.

The inference has been consistant across all news outlets, so its probably common knowledge to those involved in the case.

You saw it with the Joe O'Reilly case also.

Another inferences you'll hear/see is "gardai are seeking no others in relation to the death" = suicide. There are ways and means to say most things without actually saying it.

mike65

Indeed, there were a couple of other clues in the reporting as well.

lostexpectation

it wouldn't be wrong for the journalist to say the husband is a suspect, as they usually are, to suggest otherwise, which they seemed to would be a lie.

GerardKeating

Pen1987 wrote: »

Another inferences you'll hear/see is "gardai are seeking no others in relation to the death" = suicide. There are ways and means to say most things without actually saying it.

Or the person was "known to the Gardaí"

GerardKeating

mike65 wrote: »

Indeed, there were a couple of other clues in the reporting as well.

True, but they better be carefull with this, don't want another "Grace Livingstone" case.

by8auj6csd3ioq

mike65 wrote: »

Tonight watching the RTE news report on the death of Celine Cawley I could not help but wonder if something was being inferred by the reporter Paul Reynolds.

Twice it was mentioned that her husband fought the assailant but the second time it was the use of the words "he said he fought". It may be nothing but my overactive imagination but that wording was unnessessary.

don't think it was your imagination I thought exactly the same thing.

by8auj6csd3ioq

Pen1987 wrote: »

"gardai are seeking no others in relation to the death" = suicide.

not necessary when they arrested the guy in glenamaddy case [i think it was so many hard to keep track of]they said that

flogen

It would be remiss of a journalist not to state clearly that the account given was just that and not yet verified as fact.

However the tone taken, its context within the sentence and the overall structure of the package/report could contain inference.

Just to put my Mod Boots on for a second; for obvious reasons I'm asking posters to be very careful in what they say in this thread. I don't want to close the thread as it's an interesting area of discussion but I will be quick to edit or delete individual posts if I feel they could leave Boards.ie in a legally precarious situation.

Michellenman

reading indo this morning 'man at centre of investigation 'has 30 minute blackout so cant account for movements. in the evening paper it says gardai puzzled as to why dogs didnt bark or chase attacker. no coverage on 6 news anyone any thoughts as to why not. seems a bit strange.

Vanbis

mike65 wrote: »

Twice it was mentioned that her husband fought the assailant but the second time it was the use of the words "he said he fought". It may be nothing but my overactive imagination but that wording was unnessessary.

I was thinking the exact same thing myself last night about those comments but he;s a reporter so we shouldnt be suprised.

flogen

Michellenman wrote: »

reading indo this morning 'man at centre of investigation 'has 30 minute blackout so cant account for movements. in the evening paper it says gardai puzzled as to why dogs didnt bark or chase attacker. no coverage on 6 news anyone any thoughts as to why not. seems a bit strange.

Not necessarily any kind of black out - it could just be that the likes of RTÉ don't think the stories you reference are important enough developments, or they feel they cannot verify them.

lostexpectation

now they've arrested a '50 yr old man'

*wink* *wink* guys

mike65

The numbers add up.

The Black Oil

RTE are reporting that the husband's been charged http://www.rte.ie/news/2008/1221/cawleyc.html

mike65

Yep, no will drop thier tea-cup in shock at this I suspect. Hints were being scattered like confetti.

Thomas_S_Hunterson

mike65 wrote: »

I could not help but wonder if something was being inferred by the reporter Paul Reynolds.

Do journalists check thier work for unintended inference?

I do hate to be a grammar nazi, but I do hate it when people get infer and imply mixed up.

Something may have been implied by the journalist, it is the reader who infers;)

mike65

/shakes fist :mad:

Wacko

Even though the world and his wife had a pretty good idea where this investigation was heading not all the media had turned towards the husband, I was just looking at the Irish Independent and they have this article, it is supportive of him, (Pre arrest) I am sure they will have a very different slant on things tomorrow morning, nothing pleases the tabloids more than guilty until proven innocent.

http://www.independent.ie/national-news/frenzied-patio-murder-of-highflyer-done-in-spontaneous-combustion-1582419.html

Some extracts

Distraught though he was, Eamonn Lillis told gardai how he had found her.

He rose and dressed that morning, drove their 16-year-old daughter, Georgia, an only child, to school in Sutton Park for 8.30am. He returned to collect the three dogs to bring them for their customary morning walk around the hill of Howth.
He returned close to 10am to find a masked intruder and his wife injured on the patio. He lunged at the intruder and there was a brief altercation during which his skin was cut and scraped. The intruder ran off down the back garden, and onto a quiet pathway that leads to Carrickbrack Road.
Mr Lillis could not give a full description as the man wore a balaclava. He described the man as being in his 20s and of slight build.

There is also CCTV footage. Security cameras are common in the detached, gated homes along Windgate Road: other cameras at the nearby Summit Inn on Carrickbrack Road, may have picked up the killer as he made his escape.The tests will take time but one thing is already clear: according to one officer, the trail of clues suggests that whoever killed Celine Cawley, did so in a moment of "spontaneous combustion".

Those tragedies were in the past. Eamonn Lillis and Celine Cawley had much to look forward to. The business was doing well.

Eamonn Lillis is bereft of his wife of 17 years, while Georgia, their only child, is grieving for her dead mother at a time when she should be concerned with innocent fripperies that go with a teenage Christmas.