Trail By Media - Part II

Once again, another person dedicated to serving the community has been brought down because the press wants to get the “scoop”. Have we already forgotten about the ugliness reported not long ago involving Constable Mike Dupree? I have always been an advocate of what may be an obsolete concept, but in high school civics class the policy taught has always been innocent until PROVEN guilty. Period, no exceptions!
However, when it comes to a person in some level of authority such as the Constable and now Shannon Bailey the media prefers not to let due process take it’s course, but instead reports story after story about the seedy double life these people allegedly live while we’re not looking.
The Dallas Police Department doesn’t help either, choosing to paste the mugs of the alleged violators on their web site before these people have a chance to answer in court. The press, including the fine people at The Dallas Voice push the issue with news stories that print sexy details of late night rendezvous with nameless strangers meeting in the dark recesses of the city engaging in activity worthy of the cheapest porno paperback you can buy at Crossroads Market.
Does anyone really think about the damage these stories do to the community? It only gives more ammo to the Christian right to portray all of us in the GLBT community as sexaholics and perverts. I would expect the straight media to jump on stories like this, but The Voice? It used to be our advocate in cases of this nature, providing a very valuable sounding board to combat negative press. When others only reported the juicy tidbits, The Dallas Voice always used to be there to report the “other” side of the story. Times do change.
I guess this really shouldn’t come a too much of a surprise, after all it’s been proven sex does sell and the newspapers have to pay the light bill just like the rest of us. Without stories like this, there would indeed be an awful lot of white space to fill on the page.
In getting the story, have we forgotten these people are citizens of the United States and worthy of the same rights we would expect to be given to us if we were in similar circumstances? At this point the damage has been done and another candle burning to help those of us in the GLBT community has been snuffed out.

Trail By Media

It’s old news. Constable Mike Dupree has resigned amid allegations of misconduct and creating a “hostile work environment”. Perhaps what is most tragic most about this entire incident is simply, the Constable was forced to resign before he could be given an opportunity to defend himself. Even worse, his sudden departure gave the impression he was guilty. The local media, ever so eager to get the “scoop” compounded the problem.
The events leading to his resignation will not be reported here. There are plenty of newspaper stories chronicling the demise of the Constable.
Dupree is not the first and sadly, not the last person who will be forced to resign, leave office or otherwise abandon their livelihood or political appointments due to sensational stories in the media. On dallasvoice.com, the question of the week was “Should Constable Mike Dupree have resigned or stayed to fight charges against him?” Before news of his resignation was made public, an overwhelming number of readers voted for his resignation.
This should come as no surprise. Even before retired Judge Maryellen Hicks released a 67-page investigative report on Tuesday, readers of various weekly and other local papers were treated to tantalizing stores of sexual misconduct, abuse of power and a detailed report about the deportation of a scorned Latino lover. While it’s understood the press has always been the “watchdog of the government”, perhaps this was one of those cases where it would have been best to step back and let the system work to uncover the facts. The publishing of lurid reports from those involved may sell papers they have the unpleasant side effect of clouding the water making it much more difficult for officials to complete their tasks and properly investigate the accusations.
While these make for great reading and a marketing tool for paper to sell the dreaded white space on the pages, the news has long forgotten a cornerstone of our justice system. The defendant is innocent until proven guilty.
Of course the reading public is not naïve, the published report does conclude the Constable did act inappropriately, but the question we musk ask ourselves as readers is quite simply at what point do we contain our outrage based on what’s being reported and let our elected officials find the truth?
Now that Dupree is officially out of office, there is no shortage of opinions.

To see Judge Hicks report, go to:
www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/img/06-07/0627dupreereport.pdf

If link does not work, cut and paste address in new window.