Have We Learned Anything?

I can understand the outrage over Michael Vick right now. Heck, plenty of folks hated him long before the latest allegations that he was a heavy hitter in dog-fighting circles came to light. He's an easy target for any number of reasons, from his race to his win-loss record.So fans are angry, and that's OK. But the immediate media backlash is absurd. Have we learned nothing in the wake of the Duke Lacrosse scandal? How many of the same media members who jumped aboard the bandwagon, vilifying the easy targets at Duke, are the same ones ready to crucify Vick before he's ever spent a day in court?We live in a society of instant analysis, and it has burned the media time and time again. From projecting the presidential results in Florida too early in 2000 to Dan Rather's slander against Bush a few years later to the over-the-top criticism of the Duke Lacrosse players last year, it seems the media never learns its lesson.I realize a wait-and-see approach doesn't sell newspapers and it doesn't get ratings. I realize that being first gets a reporter more notoriety than being right. But how many times does the media need to screw things up before they learn their lesson? How many times do we as consumers need to be misled before we demand a change? How many innocent people need to have their reputations demolished before we decide that responsible journalism is better than sensational journalism?The facts haven't been presented. The jurors haven't been selected. The information just isn't available. So why are we already trying Vick in the media?I'm not saying Michael Vick is innocent. I'm just saying no one should be calling him guilty just yet.
- David Hale