I got an answer to my inquiry re: 14 year old Iraqi rape victim

[LittleClarkie]

Well, what do you know about that. I thought they'd ignore me.

The letter I sent:

Is it the policy of the Journal/Sentinel to refer to a 14 year old as a girl or a woman?

I should think such a person would be considered a girl. Which is why I'm perplexed as to why the AP and your newspaper keep referring to the girl who was raped and killed by ex-soldier Steven D. Green as a young woman.

If she were your daughter, would you consider her a woman, or a girl.

It bothers me. Alot. I fear an attempt is being made to sheild the soldiers in question. Would any other rapist get such consideration?

Here's an article in Editor and Publisher that perhaps explains what I mean better than I can.

http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1002803062

I would like a response please.. Thank you for your time.

Their reply:

Thank you for calling our attention to the E&P article; we have had a similar discussion here on the national and copy desks because of the conflicting age reports; we do not subscribe to Reuters, so I don’t know how they validated her age. We will be in touch with AP and monitor their coverage and others; if she is indeed 14 it would be our style to refer to her as a girl. We have no interest in shielding the accused.

-----------------------

I sent them a link to the Reuters article, and the best copy of the ID photo I could find on the internet. Let's see if they knock it off now.

[Henny Penny]

1. Well done.

"we have had a similar discussion here on the national and copy desks because of the conflicting age reports;".....

It is encouraging to think they are actually discussing these issues and not just printing what they are handed all the time.

[Pacifist Patriot]

2. Thank you. K & R

[EFerrari]

3. Good going! NIce to get a response. n/t

[Disturbed]

7. Excellent!

In this case of the initial reports it seems possible that it was due to incompetent investigation of the girl's actual age.
It may not have been purposeful softening by the DOD &/or US Military.

[enigmacat]

4. I am so glad you did that.

Hopefully, your letter was not the only one that they received disputing their references to a 14 year female as a "woman."

[Spazito]

5. Well done, thanks for doing that!

I am glad, also, they responded to you in the manner they did.

[pitohui]

6. nice job and good for you EOM

.

[rzemanfl]

8. Good job. How are things in Milwaukee? n/t

[LittleClarkie]

9. Meh.

At least we're still blue, even if it's a shade of purplish blue. :)

[rzemanfl]

10. Florida is blue too, with a layer of red fraud overlaying it. I'm

a ex-Wisconsinite.

[madokie]

11. check this link out

http://www.suntimes.com/output/iraq/cst-nws-rape17.html

I read thiis article in the Tulsa World newspaper and couldn't believe they were refering to the victim as a girl and teenager. I think you might have had an effect on the powers to be at AP


BAGHDAD, Iraq -- U.S. military officials fear that religious hurdles in exhuming the body of a teenager could complicate the prosecution of American soldiers accused of raping and murdering the girl -- and create a political nightmare for the U.S. mission here.

Given the seriousness of the allegations, U.S. officials think a vigorous prosecution is essential and punishment should be severe if the five U.S. soldiers and one former soldier are convicted.

Anything short of that would be seen by Iraqis as a cover-up and could shatter remaining support for the U.S. presence here.

[tinfoil tiaras]

12. I'm 14 and I certainly don't consider myself a "woman"

You're not legally a "woman" or an adult until you're 18. So stop misleading people, MSM.

[Alameda]

13. 14 year old Iraqi rape victim woman/girl

In many cultures referring to a female as a woman implies sexual experience ie none virgin. It could be that in referring to her as a woman it was a subtle way at challenging her virtue. IMHO the rape of a young virgin is worse than the rape of a sexually experienced woman.

<<Conversely, in certain non-Western cultures which link family honor with female virginity, the word girl is still used to refer to a never-married woman; in this sense it is used in a fashion roughly analogous to the obsolete English maid or maiden. Referring to an unmarried female as woman can, in such a culture, imply that she is sexually experienced, which would be an insult to her family.>>

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Woman

What do must women feel when being called Madam or Senora?

[Festivito]

14. "We" have no interest in shielding the accused. Perhaps ONE has interest..

Someone in the chain has an interest in:
. shielding the accused, or,
. shielding Republicans.

Oh, and her passport makes her age most clear.

[LittleClarkie]

15. I suspect the "someone" was someone at AP

They've shown some RW bias in the past, esp. during the 2004 election

[mom cat]

16. Thanks ,,,A lot!

[wellst0nev0ter]

17. AP Stylebook Definition Of "Girl"

girl Applicable until 18th birthday is reached. Use woman or young woman afterward.

http://www.falconer.netfirms.com/APtxt/Ggg.html

those useless, goddamn, reichwing media morons

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

18. Well done.