• Home
  • About me: Jim Fitzpatrick
  • Contact

JimmyCsays: At the juncture of journalism and daily life in KC

Feeds:
Posts
Comments
« Transcript of Pamela Karlan’s opening statement to the House Judiciary Committee
A funny letter from our friends at The Star »

A rocky road in Jayhawk land

December 9, 2019 by jimmycsays

Even though The Star doesn’t have the depth, breadth and impact it formerly did, a story that ran on the front page Sunday may well have strong repercussions for a major institution in this region.

The story was titled “Women reporting rapes in Lawrence say police department failed them.” The illustration that accompanied the story depicted a huge Lawrence PD badge dwarfing the image of a young woman. At the right side of the illustration are the words, in quotation marks, “Women aren’t safe here.”

I wonder how KU chancellor Douglas Girod felt when he saw that headline. I wonder how Barbara Bichelmeyer, who announced Friday that she is leaving UMKC to become executive vice chancellor at KU, felt. They and other KU administrators must have a sick and sinking feeling because that story will echo far and wide. Thousands of parents from coast to coast, and maybe beyond — and their daughters — will learn of that story, or at least its thrust, and have second thoughts about the possibility of attending KU.

I guarantee you there will be far fewer young women in the stands at Allen Fieldhouse in years to come singing, “Rock, Chalk, Jayhawk, KU.”

Those four words — “Women aren’t safe here” — will be repeated thousands of times at dinner tables, at high schools and everywhere else that prospective college students talk about their college dreams and plans.

The Star’s story, reported and written by Katie Bernard, cited several cases of young women who had gone to Lawrence police with allegations of being raped and getting little more than shoulder shrugs. One woman who reported that her ex-boyfriend had raped her multiple times said an officer told her that “since it was a relationship, it means it was consensual.” Another woman said a Lawrence officer told her sexual assaults happen when women in college “experiment.”

Moreover, Bernard reported that the Douglass County District Attorney’s office had charged at least three women — not just one who case The Star has carefully documented — with falsely reporting rapes. The charges have all been dropped because of The Star’s questions.

And if the story wasn’t enough of a gut punch, the lead editorial in Sunday’s paper piggybacked on it. The first sentence of the editorial read, “Police and prosecutors in Lawrence have a staggering amount to learn about sexual assault.”

…It’s hard to imagine a more damaging label for a college to carry than it’s a place where women aren’t safe.

This morning, I expect there’ll be some hurriedly called meetings at KU, the police department and the D.A.’s office to start to deal with the fallout from this blockbuster story. Significant damage has been done to the reputations of the police department, the D.A.’s office, and, by extension, to the University of Kansas.

It’s a rotten development for a very good school, but The Star exposed things that needed to be exposed.

**

For those of you who don’t take The New York Times, I recommend you get to the grocery today and buy Sunday’s edition. It’s got a remarkable, 44-page tabloid section about a 40-year-old Belgian woman — a paralympic athlete named Marieke Vervoort — who chose to end her life of chronic pain with doctor-assisted suicide, which is legal in Belgium.

A photographer named Lynsey Addario and a New York Times sports reporter named Andrew Keh spent significant time with Vervoort over nearly three years. Vervoort opened up to them, allowing complete access to the physical and emotional anguish she was experiencing along her winding road to death.

Fittingly, the project is called “The End.” A short paragraph on the cover of the section sums up the story this way…

“Knowing she had the legal right to die helped Marieke Vervoort live her life. It propelled her to medals at the Paralympics. But she could never get away from the pain.”

If you want to read a great story about courage — and you’re prepared for a good cry — I strongly recommend Addario’s and Keh’s incredible report. (It’s on The Times’ website, but if you want the full impact, get the print version.)

In the days before Marieke Vervoort died, friends came to the hospital to say their goodbyes.

Share this:

  • Twitter
  • Facebook

Like this:

Like Loading...

Related

Posted in Uncategorized | 3 Comments

3 Responses

  1. on December 9, 2019 at 9:46 am John D Altevogt

    Bernard is highly selectively motivated. Amazing that she has all that time to report a story in a community that has it’s own paper and yet fails to report the disaster that is the WYCO DA’s office in her own baliwick – except for a case involving a sex crime.

    Same reporter that wrote multiple articles on the scandal in the US Attorney’s office without mentioning Barry Grissom.

    So now 3 women who attempted to destroy someone’s life with false allegations will go free. Far out. Great job.

    #88 words Love ya Fitz.


  2. on December 9, 2019 at 2:23 pm gayle

    I do not understand staying with a man who repeatedly disrespects and assaults you when you say “no.”


  3. on December 10, 2019 at 11:21 am TP

    If a tree falls in forest…..



Comments are closed.

  • Pages

    • About me: Jim Fitzpatrick
    • Contact
  • Archives

    • February 2021
    • January 2021
    • December 2020
    • November 2020
    • October 2020
    • September 2020
    • August 2020
    • July 2020
    • June 2020
    • May 2020
    • April 2020
    • March 2020
    • February 2020
    • January 2020
    • December 2019
    • November 2019
    • October 2019
    • September 2019
    • August 2019
    • July 2019
    • June 2019
    • May 2019
    • April 2019
    • March 2019
    • February 2019
    • January 2019
    • December 2018
    • November 2018
    • October 2018
    • September 2018
    • August 2018
    • July 2018
    • June 2018
    • May 2018
    • April 2018
    • March 2018
    • February 2018
    • January 2018
    • December 2017
    • November 2017
    • October 2017
    • September 2017
    • August 2017
    • July 2017
    • June 2017
    • May 2017
    • April 2017
    • March 2017
    • February 2017
    • January 2017
    • December 2016
    • November 2016
    • October 2016
    • September 2016
    • August 2016
    • July 2016
    • June 2016
    • May 2016
    • April 2016
    • March 2016
    • February 2016
    • January 2016
    • December 2015
    • November 2015
    • October 2015
    • September 2015
    • August 2015
    • July 2015
    • June 2015
    • May 2015
    • April 2015
    • March 2015
    • February 2015
    • January 2015
    • December 2014
    • November 2014
    • October 2014
    • September 2014
    • August 2014
    • July 2014
    • June 2014
    • May 2014
    • April 2014
    • March 2014
    • February 2014
    • January 2014
    • December 2013
    • November 2013
    • October 2013
    • September 2013
    • August 2013
    • July 2013
    • June 2013
    • May 2013
    • April 2013
    • March 2013
    • February 2013
    • January 2013
    • December 2012
    • November 2012
    • May 2012
    • April 2012
    • March 2012
    • February 2012
    • January 2012
    • December 2011
    • November 2011
    • October 2011
    • September 2011
    • August 2011
    • July 2011
    • June 2011
    • May 2011
    • April 2011
    • March 2011
    • February 2011
    • January 2011
    • December 2010
    • November 2010
    • October 2010
    • September 2010
    • August 2010
    • July 2010
    • June 2010
    • May 2010
    • April 2010
    • March 2010
  • Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

    Join 511 other followers

Blog at WordPress.com.

WPThemes.


Cancel

 
Loading Comments...
Comment
    ×
    %d bloggers like this: