But with the hope that somehow, someone, somewhere—maybe an editor—will pay attention and insist his reporters, no matter their personal bias, adhere to their own established rules of journalism, I soldier on with my comment about the ludicrous story written by Mexico City native and Chicago’s ABC 7 Weekend General Assignment reporter, Michelle Gallardo.
Gallardo’s story, ”Police Bust Large Pot Growing Operation,” stated that ”two men” were arrested on charges of growing 20,000 marijuana plants with a street value of $4 million. The ”men’s” names are Bernardo Rangel and Jose Verra.
A Chicago reader who has been following the Rangel and Verra story informs me that they are illegal aliens.
A close look at Gallardo’s biography tells a lot. In addition to being a native of Mexico, Gallardo formerly worked for Univision, CNN Espanol and hosted the community affairs program Primera Plana.
None of that excuses Gallardo's reportorial oversights. Rangel and Verra are illegal aliens. That’s an integral part of the story. And, by the way, it makes the story more interesting than simply referring to them as ”men.”
”Undocumented” is pass?© now…too revealing. ”Man” is the word of choice. For more insights into recent journalistic failures, read James Fulford’s blog here.
