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To "allege" is synonymous with the verb "accuse." And liberal use of the word "allegedly" and its variations does not necessarily get you off the hook when reporting crime news. Excess use of "allege" and its variations only calls attention to the number of times you use the word, and suggests a lack of writing skill and an excessive fear of lawsuits.
This practice is especially noticeable in broadcast news, as when the term is used five times or so in a one-minute report.
We've heard the following recently: Police captured the alleged suspect, who allegedly confessed to the alleged killing of the alleged victim. (That compresses the various uses into a single sentence, but you get the point.)
Let's put it this way: When someone is found, hands tied in back, with bullet wounds in the forehead, there is no doubt this is a murder. The allegation (read: accusation) is against whodunnit, not against the (accused) victim.
The Samurai Rim Man suspects alleged lawyers, in their alleged zeal to protect their alleged clients from allegedly reporting alleged crimes and allegations against alleged suspects and their alleged victims, are allegedly being carried away with their alleged protectiveness.
Consider the above paragraph a CYA memo (cover your allegation).
NEWS ITEM:
"WASHINGTON – Mitt Romney's success in raising hundreds of millions of dollars in the costliest presidential race ever can be traced in part to a secretive data-mining project that sifts through Americans' personal information — including their purchasing history and church attendance — to identify new and likely, wealthy donors, The Associated Press has learned." (USA Today online, 24 August 2012)
The report also said that the Obama campaign uses similar funding strategies. So both sides do it. Well, that makes it all right, then.
("Mother, make him stop." "She did it, too.")
Further support for dropping out of Facebook.
This practice is especially noticeable in broadcast news, as when the term is used five times or so in a one-minute report.
We've heard the following recently: Police captured the alleged suspect, who allegedly confessed to the alleged killing of the alleged victim. (That compresses the various uses into a single sentence, but you get the point.)
Let's put it this way: When someone is found, hands tied in back, with bullet wounds in the forehead, there is no doubt this is a murder. The allegation (read: accusation) is against whodunnit, not against the (accused) victim.
The Samurai Rim Man suspects alleged lawyers, in their alleged zeal to protect their alleged clients from allegedly reporting alleged crimes and allegations against alleged suspects and their alleged victims, are allegedly being carried away with their alleged protectiveness.
Consider the above paragraph a CYA memo (cover your allegation).
NEWS ITEM:
"WASHINGTON – Mitt Romney's success in raising hundreds of millions of dollars in the costliest presidential race ever can be traced in part to a secretive data-mining project that sifts through Americans' personal information — including their purchasing history and church attendance — to identify new and likely, wealthy donors, The Associated Press has learned." (USA Today online, 24 August 2012)
The report also said that the Obama campaign uses similar funding strategies. So both sides do it. Well, that makes it all right, then.
("Mother, make him stop." "She did it, too.")
Further support for dropping out of Facebook.
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