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From: Vince_Johnson_at_TENSOR__HSTN@ccmailsmtp.hstn.expl.pgs.com
Date: Sat, 14 Dec 96 12:41:56 cst
Fwd Date: Sun, 15 Dec 1996 13:11:26 -0500
Subject: 'Fake' and 'Self-Proclaimed'



     John Powell wrote:

     >> or a rape victim I would use the term "self-claimed" during the
     >> initial reporting of the alleged event only because at that time it
     >>is a self-claimed (and alleged) event.  (An exception of course
     >>would be such an event that was independently witnesses in which
     >>case it would be an "alleged" event and there would be no need to
     >>refer to it as  self-claimed.)

     To which Greg Sandow replied:

     >But this, I think, is exactly what is <not> done. Take the Mike Tyson
     >rape case. Imagine a newspaper story in which his accuser was
     >referred to as "the self-claimed rape victim." There's hardly a
     >reader alive who wouldn't catch the implication that the charges were
     >false. So instead, newspapers use neutral words like "accuser," which
     >simply state the facts.

     Hi Greg,

     I think you're automatically ascribing a pejorative meaning to the
     terms "self claimed" or "self proclaimed" that really isn't justified.

     An accusation of rape without any substantiating evidence is only an
     accusation -- not a verdict. To describe the claimant as a "rape
     victim" in the absence of *any* supporting evidence indicates a prima
     facie acceptance of the claim and reveals an endorsement of the
     claimant's tale.

     Jurisprudence, as well as science, just doesn't work that way.

     Accepting the fact that inexplicably weird things really do happen to
     people, we also know that people make stuff up for a variety of
     reasons. Use of the term "self-proclaimed" is just a qualifier to
     indicate that the claims have not been verified and/or the absence of
     any supporting evidence.

     Regards,

     Vince