The other day I was asked to write a story about a sexual assault case that occurred on Mercer’s campus a few years ago. The case is just now making its way to the Georgia Supreme Court and has been hot topic in state news. I have not heard of many sexual assault cases happening on Mercer’s campus, or at least being reported and I was interested to read about it and find out what happened and the parties involved. After receiving an email with a story in it I was shocked to find that the person being accused of the assault is a very good friend of my brother and someone that I even went to school with. I was hit with many emotions, the first of which was that I could not believe some stupid girl was accusing such a great guy, that I have known my whole life, of something so horrible. I was certainly not going to write the story because of the obvious connection, but even if I was eligible to write the story I would be too outraged to do so. Before hearing about this case I would have to say that in general I feel great sympathy for women who suffer from sexual assault who have to sometimes struggle with the courts and law enforcement to obtain justice. However, this time I was seeing and feeling an entirely different way. This is a family friend who I was feeling had been wronged by a vindictive ex-girlfriend. I was upset with her and wanted to give her a piece of my mind. After having time to process the situation I realized that taking sides on the matter is a dangerous thing to do in reporting. Obviously I could not report on this particular case because I know a person involved, but even in cases where I do not know the people I could have a problem if I am so staunch about my views. I realized that although we all have our opinions and ideas about things, it is not up to us to decide. As an average human being or a reporter we can not say for certain that something is one way or the other based on our own belief system. All we can do is state the case and that facts behind it. As much as I hate to think someone I know would do such a horrible thing I have to have faith that the courts will figure out the truth, regardless of whether I like the truth or not. A reporter is not meant to show their views, they are only meant to show others information about a case and leave it at that. This is the first time I have ever really had to step away from a big story because of such strong personal biases.
