South Carolina basketball team cancels BYU games over racist harassment at volleyball match

[Auburn85 432]

https://www.cnn.com/2022/09/03/us/south-carolina-basketball-byu-racist-volleyball-reaj/index.html

 

 

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The South Carolina Gamecocks women's basketball team has canceled its home-and-home series with the Brigham Young University (BYU) Cougars following the racial incident involving Duke volleyball player Rachel Richardson at a BYU game last week, Dawn Staley, head coach for the defending national champions said on Friday.

 

"As a head coach, my job is to do what's best for my players and staff," Staley said in a statement. "The incident at BYU has led me to reevaluate our home-and-home, and I don't feel that this is the right time for us to engage in this series."

 

Richardson said BYU officials did not act quick enough to stop the racist harassment she and other Black players were subject to during a match last week. Richardson tweeted that she and some of her teammates "were targeted and racially heckled throughout the entirety of the match. The slurs and comments grew into threats which caused us to feel unsafe."

 

BYU issued an apology the day after the game and said it banned a fan.

 

South Carolina was scheduled to open its season at home against BYU on November 7. The Gamecocks said they are looking for another opponent for the season opener at Colonial Life Arena.

 

BYU said it is "extremely disappointed" with the decision.

 

"We are extremely disappointed in South Carolina's decision to cancel our series and ask for patience with the on-going investigation," BYU women's basketball team said in a statement on Twitter. "We believe the solution is to work together to root out racism and not to separate from one another. #LoveOneAnother."

 

Both teams were set to play each other at the Utah university next season.

 

BYU said it has no proof that the fan banned used a racial slur. The investigation is ongoing.

 

"We are still investigating fan behavior as well as investigating our own response to the reported behavior," Jon McBride, BYU associate athletic director said in a statement to CNN on Saturday. "The individual who was banned was the person identified by Duke as using racial slurs. However, we have been unable to find any evidence of that person using slurs in the match. We continue to investigate that specific situation."

 

On Thursday, BYU athletic director Tom Holmoe wrote an opinion piece for the Deseret News stating that the school is "committed to zero-tolerance of racism" and will be defined by its response to the racial incident.

 

"Let me be clear where BYU stands on this issue: racism is disgusting and unacceptable," he wrote. "We have worked to understand and follow-up on Rachel's experience with sincere commitment and ongoing concern. To say we were extremely disheartened by her report is not strong enough language. BYU and BYU Athletics are committed to zero-tolerance of racism. Any fan found engaging in racist insults will be banned from our athletic venues.

 

Holmoe added: "While some will try to define BYU by this incident, we will ultimately be defined by how we respond. The BYU I know and love rejects racism."

 

 

 

[DKW 86 7,418]

This story is several days old now and seems to be getting debunked.

https://www.npr.org/2022/09/02/1120558306/byu-volleyball-racist-slurs-fan

 

McBride said BYU Athletics staffers have been combing through the school's video recordings of the match to find anyone responsible.

"However, we have been unable to find any evidence of that person using slurs in the match," he said.

Similarly, BYU Police Lt. George Besendorfer told the Tribune that his agency did not find proof that the man yelled slurs, after reviewing video records.

News of the racial slurs became public after the match and drew national attention over the weekend, as Duke sophomore Rachel Richardson said that she and other Black athletes "were targeted and racially heckled throughout the entirety of the match."

 

[DKW 86 7,418]

from four days ago....

https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/media-go-all-in-on-apparent-volleyball-racism-hoax-at-byu

We were past due for another racial hoax. Sports media and Brigham Young University have apparently just helped Duke volleyball provide us with one.

The controversy started when the godmother of Duke’s only black starter, Rachel Richardson, claimed that a BYU fan called her the N-word every time she served. This controversy predictably blew up, and one fan was banned indefinitely from BYU games.

 

This story was picked up by professional race-baiters Jemele Hill (the Atlantic) and Mike Freeman (USA Today). ESPN bit on it, giving an interview to Richardson while ESPN personalities condemned the incident. It even bled into establishment media. CNN’s Brianna Keilar gave a segment to Richardson’s father, who smeared the entire BYU crowd as racist due to the “atmosphere” in the arena. It was picked up uncritically by NPR, ABC, NBC, the New York Times, and the Washington Post.

The problem with this? None of it appears to be true.

BYU police reviewed footage of the fan who was banned and determined that he did not yell any slurs when Richardson was serving. The fan wasn’t even present when Richardson was serving the first time, and he was on his phone during Richardson’s second serve. Those were the only two times she served in front of the BYU student section. A BYU student newspaper reached out to several people in the student section, none of whom had heard any slurs.

Not a single person has since come forward to report to BYU police that they heard the alleged slur. Black members of BYU’s basketball team were also in the student section, yet they did not react and have not come forward to say they heard anything.

And Richardson’s godmother, who started the whole controversy? She locked her Twitter account after people discovered her history of racist tweets directed at white people. She also happens to be running for office in Texas.

The story never made sense on its face, but the media did not care. A black player claims to hear a slur, so the media assume there was one. The media pressure scared the cowards at BYU into banning one fan indefinitely without evidence, just as it scared the Colorado Rockies into threatening to ban one fan whom the media claimed was yelling the N-word at a game — even though no one in the crowd even reacted to it. (That fan was actually yelling the name of the mascot, but establishment media didn’t care to find that out before reporting on it.)

Even the scenario that some other fan was the one yelling the slur seems unlikely, given everything we know now. We know thanks to BYU police that the fan who was banned certainly didn’t say it. But there will be no reckoning or accountability for our media, because raising a five-alarm fire over any reported incident of racism, no matter how unlikely or unproven, is all establishment media do these days.

[Auburn85 432]

https://abcnews.go.com/Sports/byu-found-evidence-racial-heckling-duke-womens-volleyball/story?id=89593780

 

 

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BYU says it found no evidence of racial heckling toward Duke women's volleyball player

 

BYU says it found no evidence of racial heckling during a women's volleyball match against Duke last month after what the school called an "extensive review" of the incident.

Duke volleyball player Rachel Richardson, who is Black, alleged that she repeatedly heard a racial slur directed at her during the Aug. 26 match from someone sitting in BYU's student section. Richardson's godmother also said the player was called a racial slur "every time she served."

BYU banned a fan from all its athletic events shortly after Richardson's allegations but has lifted the ban following its investigation, which the school says included reviewing all available video and audio recordings and contacting more than 50 people who attended the event, including some Duke athletes and staff members. The review included security camera footage and footage from BYUtv with broadcasting audio removed.

"From our extensive review, we have not found any evidence to corroborate the allegation that fans engaged in racial heckling or uttered racial slurs at the event," BYU said in a statement. "As we stated earlier, we would not tolerate any conduct that would make a student-athlete feel unsafe. That is the reason for our immediate response and our thorough investigation.

"As a result of our investigation, we have lifted the ban on the fan who was identified as having uttered racial slurs during the match. We have not found any evidence that that individual engaged in such an activity. BYU sincerely apologizes to that fan for any hardship the ban has caused."

BYU communicated the results of the investigation to Duke before releasing its statement, the school told ESPN. The schools' athletic directors, BYU's Tom Holmoe and Duke's Nina King, have been in regular communication throughout the investigation.

Richardson had informed her coaches about the heckling during the match. She later told ESPN's Holly Rowe of the incident: "I heard a very strong, negative racial slur. ... So I served the ball, got through the play. And then the next time I went back to serve, I heard it extremely clear again, but that was the end of the game."

Holmoe met with Richardson on Aug. 27 and made several changes to its fan code of conduct, including relocating where volleyball fans are seated during matches. Richardson praised Holmoe for his approach to the incident, telling Rowe, "I could see how sorry he was and honestly shocked that it happened."

Duke AD King on Friday expressed the university's support for Richardson and all members of the school's volleyball team.

"The 18 members of the Duke University volleyball team are exceptionally strong women who represent themselves, their families, and Duke University with the utmost integrity," King said in a statement. "We unequivocally stand with and champion them, especially when their character is called into question. Duke Athletics believes in respect, equality and inclusiveness, and we do not tolerate hate and bias."

In Friday's statement, BYU reiterated its commitment to a zero tolerance policy for racism at any of its athletic events.

"There will be some who assume we are being selective in our review," BYU's statement says. "To the contrary, we have tried to be as thorough as possible in our investigation, and we renew our invitation for anyone with evidence contrary to our findings to come forward and share it. Despite being unable to find supporting evidence of racial slurs in the many recordings and interviews, we hope that all those involved will understand our sincere efforts to ensure that all student-athletes competing at BYU feel safe."

The South Carolina women's basketball team recently canceled a home-and-home series against BYU, citing the incident at the Duke-BYU volleyball match.

"I don't feel that this is the right time for us to engage in this series," Gamecocks coach Dawn Staley said in a statement Sept. 2.

BYU had said it was "extremely disappointed" with South Carolina's decision and asked for patience as it reviewed the allegations.

 

 

[Auburn85 432]

https://www.mediaite.com/news/byu-investigation-finds-no-evidence-of-racist-heckling-in-incident-covered-extensively-on-espn/

 

 

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BYU Investigation Finds ‘No Evidence’ of Racist Heckling in Incident Covered Extensively on ESPN and CNN

 

Utah’s Brigham Young University released a statement Friday concluded after an in-depth investigation that Duke volleyball players were not subjected to racial slurs during a game on Aug. 26 – allegations that led to a fan being banned and a media uproar.

Deseret News reported on Friday that the Provo university spoke with more than 50 eyewitnesses and “reviewed extensive video and audio of the match” before coming to a conclusion.

Additionally, BYU had placed a “police officer and four ushers into the student section” where the Duke player had alleged the racial slurs were coming from. The player “said she heard the slurs more intensely in the fourth set, when the ushers, BYU Police Det. Sgt. Richard Laursen and a Duke assistant athletic director stood near where she served and by the student section,” added Deseret News.

After the game, BYU reportedly “banned a fan who Duke said had used the N-word and had made a player uncomfortable after the match. The fan is not a BYU student.”

“We reviewed all available video and audio recordings, including security footage and raw footage from all camera angles taken by BYUtv of the match, with broadcasting audio removed (to ensure that the noise from the stands could be heard more clearly),” the BYU statement said.

“We have not found any evidence that that individual engaged in such an activity,” the school concluded.

“BYU sincerely apologizes to that fan for any hardship the ban has caused,” the school added and lifted the ban on Friday.

Det. Sgt. Richard Laursen who stood near the fan who was banned told the investigation that he both did not hear any racial slurs and that the banned fan had not acted inappropriately. Additionally, Laursen noted he believed the fan may have “(A)sperger syndrome or could have autism.”

The allegations of racism at the game were widely covered in the media as the player told ESPN, “I heard a very strong, negative racial slur. … So I served the ball, got through the play. And then the next time I went back to serve, I heard it extremely clear again, but that was the end of the game.”

The player also spoke to Sports Center and detailed the allegations and claimed she doesn’t “want to group BYU altogether in a negative light.”

 

Media critic Steve Krakauer noted CNN anchor Brianna Keilar interviewed the father and declared the racist incident happened in her line of questioning, beginning, “A Division I volleyball match at Brigham Young University turned really ugly, when Black players from Duke University endured racial slurs from at least one fan in the crowd.” Jim Acosta also covered the story, saying, “Coming up next a Duke University volleyball player is speaking out after she and other black teammates were called racist slurs and threatened during a match against Brigham young next.”

Additionally, MSNBC ran a headline railing against BYU, titled, “The racism on display at Brigham Young Friday fits a historical pattern.” David Zirin wrote “the incident brought to mind how Black athletes in the 1960s and 1970s boycotted games and meets on the BYU campus in Utah in the name of human dignity. At the time, there was a widespread condemnation of the — quite literally — white supremacist politics of the Mormon Church.”

BYU added in its statement, “Our fight is against racism, not against any individual or any institution. Each person impacted has strong feelings and experiences, which we honor, and we encourage others to show similar civility and respect. We remain committed to rooting out racism wherever it is found. We hope we can all join together in that important fight.”

“The South Carolina women’s basketball team recently canceled a home-and-home series against BYU, citing the incident at the Duke-BYU volleyball match,” reported ESPN.

 

 

[PUB78 1,356]

Yep! Yelling “Fire” when there is none 

[aubiefifty 16,735]

there are always people that will take advantage of a situation. most folks understand that. and yes there are race baiters and on both sides. people want clicks so they smear someone or something. to me it hurts the overall cause because there are racists in america. it does happen in america. i hope no one uses this crap to turn their head and try to act like racism does not exist  in this country.

[DKW 86 7,418]

40 minutes ago, aubiefifty said:

there are always people that will take advantage of a situation. most folks understand that. and yes there are race baiters and on both sides. people want clicks so they smear someone or something. to me it hurts the overall cause because there are racists in america. it does happen in america. i hope no one uses this crap to turn their head and try to act like racism does not exist  in this country.

But fiddy, there will always be those that will say that it was true, no matter how much proof is out there.

Only thing to do is file suit...See Oberlin...

[aubiefifty 16,735]

1 minute ago, DKW 86 said:

But fiddy, there will always be those that will say that it was true, no matter how much proof is out there.

Only thing to do is file suit...See Oberlin...

why would the girl make something up in the middle of a game like that? she could be lying but i have to see more proof. you know how home cooking works right? and her mother is running for office and is racist so everyone assumes her daughter is because the mom is? is that what i am hearing david? and i have played in a hundred bars and clubs and people holler s*** and it is hard to pick them out. and their friends with them are not going to bust them out. just because they could not find the person does not mean it did not happen. it is unfortunate.

[DKW 86 7,418]

2 minutes ago, aubiefifty said:

why would the girl make something up in the middle of a game like that? she could be lying but i have to see more proof. you know how home cooking works right? and her mother is running for office and is racist so everyone assumes her daughter is because the mom is? is that what i am hearing david? and i have played in a hundred bars and clubs and people holler s*** and it is hard to pick them out. and their friends with them are not going to bust them out. just because they could not find the person does not mean it did not happen. it is unfortunate.

Show me the evidence where it happened. So far, there is no proof.

Look at the Duke Lacrosse Team, Jussie Smollett, etc etc

[aubiefifty 16,735]

2 minutes ago, DKW 86 said:

Show me the evidence where it happened. So far, there is no proof.

Look at the Duke Lacrosse Team, Jussie Smollett, etc etc

i get it bro. the lacrosse team and other things but i refuse to throw the little girl under the bus without proof. what if it was your child? you might think differently. if she made it up and is like her mom shame o0n her and i believe it will catch up with her. and in case anyone reading this out there i am all for an investigation on her to see what pops up. i just believe infairness. i swear it has nothing to do with how cute she is.

[Auburn85 432]

https://www.mediaite.com/sports/cnns-john-avlon-acknowledges-widespread-media-failure-on-byu-racist-heckling-allegations-there-was-a-rush-to-judgment/

 

 

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CNN’s John Avlon Acknowledges Widespread Media Failure on BYU Racist Heckling Allegations: ‘There Was a Rush to Judgment’

CNN’s John Avlon provided some “journalistic accountability” for his network and others during a new segment Monday he dubbed “Upon Further Review.”

Avlon tackled the findings from an investigation by Brigham Young University that found no evidence to back up allegations from Duke University volleyball player Rachel Richardson that she and other athletes were subjected to racist heckling.

In a statement about the alleged incident, BYU said they’d interviewed dozens of people, reviewed video and audio evidence, and found nothing to back up the claim that fans were hurling racist slurs at players. One fan even had a lifetime ban reversed amid the investigation, Avlon noted.

The CNN anchor noted the story jumped to the front of the “outrage Olympics” and his new segment was to update the “initial official version of the story once more facts come in.” He added at one point that CNN was one of many networks to jump on the initial allegations, even inviting Richardson’s family on-air.

“Healthy skepticism is always a virtue, but this doesn’t read like a coverup. Instead, it feels like there was a rush to judgment because of a well-intentioned impulse to believe the Duke player’s accusations,” he said.

Avlon added that the Richardson family has “notably” not returned requests for comment from CNN, despite previously appearing on the network.

Avlon did provide some cover for the allegations, saying the BYU statement does not accuse Richardson of being a “liar or a fabricator” and acknowledging that “systemic racism is real and corrosive to the soul of our nation.”

Facts, however, “always have to come first,” he added.

Avlon called for the media to report on the new facts in the Duke University scandal with the same “intensity” they reported on the initial allegations.

“Fidelity to the facts is all that we as journalists and citizens should ask,” Avlon said. “It’s understandable that there’s a desire to believe people when they say they’ve been victimized, but the accusations have to be backed up by facts and when the facts don’t fit upon further review, we need to set the record straight with as much intensity as the initial reports.”

 

 

[AUFAN78 3,892]

On 9/10/2022 at 3:48 PM, aubiefifty said:

why would the girl make something up in the middle of a game like that? she could be lying but i have to see more proof. you know how home cooking works right? and her mother is running for office and is racist so everyone assumes her daughter is because the mom is? is that what i am hearing david? and i have played in a hundred bars and clubs and people holler s*** and it is hard to pick them out. and their friends with them are not going to bust them out. just because they could not find the person does not mean it did not happen. it is unfortunate.

That 5000 people are at an event and only one hears a racist slur is troubling. Agree that does not mean it did not happen, but very suspicious to say the least. I think we just have to be willing to admit as much.

[aubiefifty 16,735]

1 minute ago, AUFAN78 said:

That 5000 people are at an event and only one hears a racist slur is troubling. Agree that does not mean it did not happen, but very suspicious to say the least. I think we just have to be willing to admit as much.

i have seen people do that years ago at a game and they crouched down behind folks and the people around them never dimed them out. but i agree anything could have happened. the game was a high school game and they were yelling the ultimate black insult and i thought wth? we had black players as well. weird.........

[AUFAN78 3,892]

1 minute ago, aubiefifty said:

i have seen people do that years ago at a game and they crouched down behind folks and the people around them never dimed them out. but i agree anything could have happened. the game was a high school game and they were yelling the ultimate black insult and i thought wth? we had black players as well. weird.........

Please tell me you "dimed" them out?

[DKW 86 7,418]

Young lady is likely to be framed as the female Jussie Smollett for the rest of her life. And for what?

[Auburn85 432]

 

[CoffeeTiger 5,084]

2 hours ago, Auburn85 said:

 

 

lol. Below that he bragged that she blocked him when he kept sending her messages about the allegation and the memes she 'liked' . Harassing a college girl on twitter is exactly what I'd expect from a writer for Outkick and the Daily Caller. 

 

 

[DKW 86 7,418]

3 hours ago, CoffeeTiger said:

 

lol. Below that he bragged that she blocked him when he kept sending her messages about the allegation and the memes she 'liked' . Harassing a college girl on twitter is exactly what I'd expect from a writer for Outkick and the Daily Caller. 

So she gets to lie with impunity?

[AUFAN78 3,892]

3 hours ago, DKW 86 said:

So she gets to lie with impunity?

That cup of coffee has at least 4 packages of sugar.

 

[Auburn85 432]

https://www.commonsense.news/p/how-the-media-fell-for-a-racism-sham

 

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Jesse Singel

 

How the Media Fell for A Racism Sham

A Brigham Young University paper scooped the New York Times. All the students did was practice basic journalism.

Last month, Rachel Richardson—the only black starter on the women’s volleyball team at Duke University—leveled a shocking accusation. She said that during her team’s August 26 match against Brigham Young University, fans inside the BYU arena in Provo, Utah inundated her with racist abuse and threats.

After the match, 19-year-old Richardson told her godmother, Lesa Pamplin, about the incident. Pamplin is a criminal defense attorney running for a county judgeship in Texas, and was not at the game—but the next day, she published a tweet that rocketed the story to national attention: “My Goddaughter is the only black starter for Dukes [sic] volleyball team. While playing yesterday, she was called a [n-word] every time she served. She was threatened by a white male that told her to watch her back going to the team bus. A police officer had to be put by their bench.” 

The tweet is no longer available, but it racked up 185,000 likes before it was archived. LeBron James himself responded: “you tell your Goddaughter to stand tall, be proud and continue to be BLACK!!! We are a brotherhood and sisterhood!  We have her back. This is not sports.”

Richardson’s story also spread via her father, Marvin Richardson, who is Deputy Director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and who spoke with multiple outlets on behalf of his daughter. In an August 27 story about the incident in the New York Times that named him but not his daughter, he described an alarming, potentially violent scene. Despite an onslaught of slurs, he told the Times, his daughter thought the safest choice was “to keep her head down and continue playing.” He said that “as the crowd got more hyped and the epithets kept coming, she wanted to respond back but she told me she was afraid that, if she did, the raucous crowd could very well turn into a mob mentality.”

Rachel Richardson posted her own account to Twitter on August 28 (archived here), viscerally relaying the horror of the evening. She explained that “my fellow African American teammates and I were targeted and racially heckled throughout the entirety of the match. The slurs and comments grew into threats which caused us to feel unsafe.” 

Things got so out of control, she said, that “my teammates and I had to struggle just to get through the rest of the game.” She accused BYU’s coaches and the game’s officials of having “failed to take the necessary steps to stop the unacceptable behavior and create a safe environment.” In an interview with ESPN that aired just a few days later, Richardson said that as the match progressed, the “atmosphere of the student section had changed,” growing “more extreme, more intense.” 

The national response to this heinous allegation was swift and righteous. Utah’s governor, Spencer Cox, issued a statement on Twitter (now deleted) expressing his shock and disappointment. “I'm disgusted that this behavior is happening and deeply saddened if others didn’t step up to stop it,” he wrote. “As a society we have to do more to create an atmosphere where racist a**holes like this never feel comfortable attacking others.” For its part, BYU quickly acknowledged that something horrible had happened in the fieldhouse. The day after the game, it published an apologetic statement, saying that the fan deemed responsible for shouting the epithets—who was not a BYU student—had been banned from all university athletic venues. 

Unsurprisingly, major media outlets were all over this story. The Times’ coverage set the tone, with the Washington Post and CNN and Sports Illustrated and NPR all publishing similar articles, alongside the predictable think pieces. The incident also had consequences for BYU sports more generally. The head coach of women’s basketball at the University of South Carolina canceled its home opener against BYU. A match between Duke and Rider University’s women’s volleyball teams—scheduled to be played at the BYU arena—was moved to a nearby high school gym in order to provide both teams “the safest atmosphere,” according to Duke’s Director of Athletics, Nina King. 

For millions of people watching this story unfold, this was yet another example of the ineradicable stain of American racism, of just how little progress we’ve really made.

Except it didn’t happen. 

There is no evidence that the chain of events described by Richardson and her family members occurred. There isn’t even evidence a single slur was hurled at her and her teammates, let alone a terrifying onslaught of them.

All the journalists who credulously reported on this event were wrong—and it was an embarrassing kind of wrong, because the red flags were large, numerous, and flapping loudly. Richardson and her family members reported that racial slurs had been hurled with abandon, loudly and repeatedly, in a crowded gym filled with more than 5,000 people. But the journalists covering this incident never stopped to notice how odd it was that none of these vile slurs were captured by any of the thousands of little handheld cameras in the gym at the time, nor on the bigger cameras recording the match. Nor did they find it strange that in the days following the incident, not a single other eyewitness came forward—none of Richardson’s black teammates, and none of the players for either team.

Instead of heeding the red flags and slowing down to ask some questions, mainstream journalists simply consumed and regurgitated the story as it had been fed to them by Richardson, her godmother, her father, and a major university’s public relations apparatus (which was in DEFCON 1 mode, doing everything it could to broadcast contrition and contain the growing damage to the university’s reputation).

If any of these journalists had demonstrated an iota of curiosity or skepticism—if they’d practiced journalism as it was meant to be practiced—they could have had a major scoop. Instead they acted as stenographers, with terrible results.

Everything that happened here fits into a growing problem in mainstream newsrooms: the injection of political values even into straight reporting, undermining the very purpose of journalism. 

Among activist journalists, the basic idea is that appeals to “objectivity”—meaning that the journalist will seek out crucial information and act as a neutral arbiter—doesn’t advance social justice. Instead, these journalists are making the same errors they decry from the past, but in the opposite direction. Journalists used to ignore accusations of racism? Well, now the default should be to accept them at face value. Prior generations of (mostly male) journalists didn’t take sexual assault seriously? Well, now we should #BelieveWomen, and journalists themselves should proudly tweet #MeToo. Let’s not worry too much about the fact that believing things reflexively, or participating in activist movements, has typically been anathema to old-school journalism. Leave those concerns to the rapidly aging dinosaurs who will soon be departing our newsrooms.

Even as major media outlets were ignoring the red flags surrounding the BYU incident, some of their smaller competitors were busy doing actual journalism—and it’s revealing who didn’t botch this story. On August 30, the local paper, the Salt Lake Tribune, published an article questioning whether the correct perpetrator had been identified and banned: “BYU Police Lt. George Besendorfer said Tuesday that based on an initial review of surveillance footage of the crowd, the individual who was banned wasn’t shouting anything while the Duke player was serving.” Besendorfer issued a plea for someone, anyone, to corroborate Richardson’s story. “So far, Besendorfer also said, no one from the student section or elsewhere at the volleyball match last week has come forward to BYU police to report the individual responsible for the slur. He also said no one has come forward to say they heard the slur being shouted during the match. He implored students who heard the comments to come forward.”

But the best reporting actually came from an even smaller upstart. On August 30, the Cougar Chronicle—a conservative campus paper at BYU—published a story by student journalists Luke Hanson and Thomas Stevenson. They reported that according to a source in the athletic department’s office, the search for any evidence of a slur had, thus far, turned up zilch. Moreover, Hanson and Stevenson reached out to a number of spectators, and they, too, said they heard nothing unusual. 

This is all Journalism 101—but the big guys couldn’t be bothered. What’s more, the Chronicle writers revealed that, according to their source in the athletic department, the man who was fingered as the culprit was not only innocent but “mentally challenged,” and was punished to “appease a mob.”

Last Friday, their reporting was validated. 

BYU issued another statement that completely imploded the dominant storyline about this incident. The university explained that it had conducted a thorough investigation of the evening’s game, including extensive review of the available video footage and interviews with more than 50 individuals in attendance, and had not found evidence of a single fan yelling a single slur. The ban on the innocent fan had been lifted.

By this point, between the original New York Times story and a tepid followup, a combined five reporters and researchers had been pantsed by a small student paper. If all this provoked any soul-searching on the part of the Times, it was unclear from its report on BYU’s findings.

Remarkably, their most recent story treated the events as unresolved: “B.Y.U. did not directly address why its findings contradicted the account by Richardson, and the statements by both universities left questions unanswered.” It also included a statement from Duke’s athletic director saying the university stood by the volleyball team. The story ends with a reminder that at the overwhelmingly Mormon school, less than 1 percent of students are black, and that a recent report highlighted the university’s diversity issues. It’s unclear exactly why this is relevant; the point seems to be for the Times to advertise that it understands racism is a serious problem at BYU, and that even if the school were not guilty of it this time, everyone knows the university’s soul is not entirely spotless.  

The BYU non-brouhaha brouhaha is part of a growing problem. From the outright criminal fraud of Jussie Smollett—in which some of the most prominent journalists in the world accepted a storyline that never really made much sense—to the unwarranted piling on of the Covington Catholic High School kids, there’s an established pattern of journalists being far too credulous when these incidents first burst onto the scene.

There are real-world consequences to this sort of shoddy reporting, not just for newspapers’ reputations and their pocketbooks (Nicholas Sandmann, the face of the Covington controversy, sued and settled with CNN, the Washington Post, and NBC), but for those caught in the crossfire. In this case, a vulnerable, innocent young man was wrongly accused of horrendous acts, and an entire student body was slandered. Millions of people will continue to believe this incident occurred, because debunkings never travel a tenth as far and wide as misinformation does.

It won’t take some radical revolution for journalists to better cover fast-developing, controversial incidents involving race and other hot-button issues. All they have to do is rediscover norms that are already there, embedded in journalistic tradition. The best, oldest-school newspaper editors—a truly dying breed—constantly pester cub reporters to make that one extra call, ask that one extra question, follow that one extra unlikely lead. They do this all in the service of making sure their organization prints the best, most accurate version of the news (and doesn’t get sued). They can adhere to these norms without becoming a shill for the powerful. It’s simply a matter of approaching a story with curiosity and skepticism, of not believing they are the advocate for one side in a conflict—no matter how righteous and obvious the battle lines may seem at first glance.

 

 

[Auburn85 432]

https://mynbc15.com/news/nation-world/second-university-cancels-game-byu-alleged-racist-comments-university-of-the-pacific-volleyball-duke-south-carolina

 

 

Quote

 

Second university cancels game with BYU over alleged racist comments

by Kayla Winn, KUTV

Tuesday, November 8th 2022

SALT LAKE CITY (KUTV) — University of the Pacific in California has forfeited their volleyball match against Utah's Brigham Young University after a fan was accused of making racist comments against Duke during a match in August.

It's the second school refusing to play against the private university. South Carolina's women's basketball coach Dawn Staley announced her team would not compete against BYU either, due to the allegations.

"The team expressed concerns following reports of racist and hostile comments during an August 26 match," a statement released by Mike Klocke, Pacific's senior communications director, said.

He explained their November match will be canceled due to the concerns from the team.

During a match at Smith Fieldhouse in August, Rachel Richardson of the Duke University women's volleyball team reported hearing racist slurs shouted at her.

BYU athletic administration reported that their investigation, which lasted several days, said they found "no proof that a fan used any racial slurs during the match."

Officials speaking on behalf of BYU called their opponent's decision to forfeit, "unwarranted and deeply disappointing."

"Following the Aug. 26 allegation, BYU conducted an extensive review and found no evidence to corroborate this allegation. As we have stated previously, BYU will not tolerate any conduct that would make a student-athlete feel unsafe in our athletic environments. It is unfortunate that Pacific would make a decision that perpetuates the very challenge we are working to heal in our polarized society."

The private university continued their statement by noting they provide, "one of the best environments in college volleyball," noting they've hosted the NCAA Women's Tournament for the the last seven consecutive years.

"We regret that Pacific elected not to work with us in addressing their concerns," BYU's statement said.

Another report alleged racist slurs were made during a Brigham Young University women's soccer game in 2021.

 

 

[SLAG-91 1,483]

Embarrassing for UoP, but whatever.

Scream the allegation, whisper the retraction...damage is done, though.

[DKW 86 7,418]

17 hours ago, SLAG-91 said:

Scream the allegation, whisper the retraction...damage is done, though.

And that is the business model of about 90% of the media. From the NYT to MSNBC to Fox News, Scream the allegation, whisper the retraction.