Reporters not describing people by race/ethnicity any longer (Howe: vehicle, cheap)

[tstone]

Originally Posted by catfancier

Edited to add: I just realized there were two different robberies....Webster AND Clear Lake. But I don't think the reporting on either ever gave a block-number street address?

Channel 11 has the locations:

Police: Female robbers terrorizing women in Webster, Clear Lake area | TOP STORIES | KHOU.com | News for Houston, Texas (http://www.khou.com/topstories/stories/khou90407_mh_clear-lake-crime.b0b025e7.html - broken link)

And they aren't reporting race either.

Maybe the robbers look like Adam Duritz?

[MrSykes]

Originally Posted by Topaz

That's quite the assumption on your part.

Don't be disingenuous.

"Wild-looking afro". You know good and well two old white women didn't come to mind.

Connect the dots. Doesn't take a genius.

[TexasTheKid]

Perhaps they were Israeli.


No... then they would have called it a jewfro instead of afro.

[RVD26]

Originally Posted by Topaz

It is ridiculous. I can't tell if the state of journalism is particularly bad in Houston, or if it has just gotten awful everywhere and I just notice it in Houston because I live here.

Here is what the Chronicle said about one of the robbers:

One of the women is described as being 18 to 25 years old, approximately 5 feet to 5 feet, 6 inches tall and weighed around 120 pounds, according to a press release from the Webster Police Department. She had a "wild-looking, unbraided afro."

The fact that she had an afro wasn't enough clue to you that she was black?
The problem is the descriptions given by the victims are never very good descriptions to give out in the media.
I don't think it's a case of the media trying to pacify to any one group(s) of people.
Simply saying the suspect is a black male wearing a t-shirt and jeans around 5'6" to 6' covers about a 1/3 of the population in Houston.

[HookTheBrotherUp]

Originally Posted by RVD26

The fact that she had an afro wasn't enough clue to you that she was black?

There are white people with afros. Re my Jeff Lynne comment. There are also Latinos/Latinas with afros as well. As I said, it is up to the reporters to tell what they know. If I saw a black man with an afro, I'd say a black man; if I saw someone from the Dominican Republic with an afro, I'd say a Latino. It makes all the difference.

[Mom2Feebs]

Originally Posted by MrSykes

Connect the dots. Doesn't take a genius.

Well, then, if that's the case, we don't have to worry about you getting it, now, do we?

Don't be so daft. Journalists have a responsibility to report all of the facts. That they are so PC and selective is ridiculous, as is your assumption I would think they were black. They could be anything. FWIW, it was reported on the news (KPRC) it was "wild hair" not a "wild afro"--that was elsewhere.

[Mom2Feebs]

Originally Posted by RVD26

The fact that she had an afro wasn't enough clue to you that she was black?

We didn't even get that much information from the news segment last night.

Simply saying the suspect is a black male wearing a t-shirt and jeans around 5'6" to 6' covers about a 1/3 of the population in Houston.

Well, that's a lot better than saying the suspect is a male wearing a t-shirt and jeans, don't you think?

[RVD26]

Originally Posted by HookTheBrotherUp

There are white people with afros. Re my Jeff Lynne comment. There are also Latinos/Latinas with afros as well. As I said, it is up to the reporters to tell what they know. If I saw a black man with an afro, I'd say a black man; if I saw someone from the Dominican Republic with an afro, I'd say a Latino. It makes all the difference.

I realize other groups of people wear variations of afros, but use a little common sense here now.
When you hear the term "afro", you already know what group first comes to mind.
When I do hear reporters mention race in their descriptions, the descriptions are so general that it is not even helpful at all.
I'm sorry, but a description such as "short Hispanic male with dark hair" is not very helpful at all.

[RVD26]

Originally Posted by Mom2Feebs

Well, that's a lot better than saying the suspect is a male wearing a t-shirt and jeans, don't you think?

Not really. Still a very vague description.
Unless the crime was committed in an area inhabited by people of only one race, neither description helps anyone.

[Mom2Feebs]

Originally Posted by RVD26

I realize other groups of people wear variations of afros, but use a little common sense here now.
When you hear the term "afro", you already know what group first comes to mind.
When I do hear reporters mention race in their descriptions, the descriptions are so general that it is not even helpful at all.
I'm sorry, but a description such as "short Hispanic male with dark hair" is not very helpful at all.

You're missing the point, though... only one source has reported they had any kind of afro, and really, that's a stretch because they usually don't do even that. Broadcast news on KPRC purposely omitted it.