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The use of the word “allegedly” is standard practice for reputable new organisations reporting on an individual being charged, but not yet convicted. A core te
by avianlyric 4y ago
The use of the word “allegedly” is standard practice for reputable new organisations reporting on an individual being charged, but not yet convicted.
A core tenet of the justice system is the idea that your innocence until proven guilty. Hence the use of the word “allegedly”, by default any claims made by the government shouldn’t be treated as proven, until they’ve proved them in a court of law.
To assume that a law enforcement official, or prosecutors charges are true before they’ve proven them in a court of law would be to ignore due process. To publish those charges as facts, would be libel.
- derefr 4y agoEverything you're saying would be true if it was the journalist themselves doing the alledging. But the journalist is quoting a source through paraphrase, and the source is doing the alledging. It is not libel to say "An anonymous source said [libelous thing.]" Because there is no claim made through that statement that what the anonymous source is saying, is true. The only claim being made through that statement is that that claim is in fact what the source said. If the anonymous source wasn't anonymous, maybe they'd be guilty of libel. But the journalist isn't. They're just reporting on the libel someone else is committing.