Mark Henderson

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Why police and journalists use the words they use

  • Posted by Mark Henderson Aug 19 - Filed in News - #Worcester  #journalism  #Worcester Police Department  - 764 views

    Now might be a good time to explain why people in news, and police to a large extent, use the specific words they use to describe an active investigation into a death. Let's start by parsing Tuesday's first post regarding the death of Kurt Solomon from the Worcester Police Department at 11:14 a.m. (above)

    All the police could say publicly when they posted this was that a man was found dead in a home. The most likely reason the police didn't ID him right off was that they needed to notify family first. Note that they said "death," which means they hadn't had an official determination of the manner of death, at the hand of another or by his own hand. A person has not been killed until it's determined they died at the hands of another. This also explains the phrasing, "seeking Karen Solomon." No one's a suspect until police determine the death is at the hands of another. At this point, the police had determined she was most likely there at or around the time of death, but still needed to understand what preceded it.

    The word "homicide" describes a death at the hands of another. The word "killer" describes someone who has taken a life. And, as far as journalists are concerned, the word "murder" is something completely different. Generally, someone can be charged with murder, but they're not actually a murderer until a judge or jury says so. In the case of another hot case, it can be said Lindsay Clancy is a killer, because she acknowledged taking her children's lives, but for now she's now just an accused murderer.

    Journalists and police use words carefully based on what is actually known at any given time. What may seem confusing is actually an attempt to be clear, precise and, most importantly, 100% correct.

    Hope this clarifies things a bit.


    Mark Henderson is the founder of the016.com and has been a journalist in Worcester since 1983. His career includes 25 years on the staff of the Telegram & Gazette, where he was the digital director and deputy managing editor.

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