Allegedly For Certain

Is there a more misunderstood and misused word in the news game, than allegedly? I think not.

It’s a fairly simple word designed to let media off the hook while reporting on crimes for which people have not yet been convicted. You’ll notice that police have no such restrictions placed on them much of the time. When police hold a news conference, they tend to say, with all certainty, that their suspect “did it”. The presumption of innocence prevents the media from doing the same. We can’t budge from this truth because of gut feelings or known evidence. We must remain at all times, fence-sitters when it comes to pinning crimes on individuals in matters before the courts. Even in investigative pieces that newspapers famously write to build up cases against someone, they always add the caveat that they ‘allegedly’ did it. Paul Bernardo was the alleged school-girl killer for a long time before he was the actual killer, in the media coverage of his crimes.

But therein lies the rub with allegedly. In a nutshell and speaking very generally, the word works like this: the crime happened, the suspect allegedly did it. Taking Bernardo again, those girls weren’t allegedly killed – they were killed – but until he was convicted, Bernardo allegedly did it. So often I hear reporters talking about an actual crime as if it may or may not have happened while pinning it on the suspect for certain. “The victim allegedly died in a stairwell after the suspect hit her on the head with a hammer.” We have a body. It’s in a stairwell. Police have said the crime happened in the stairwell, therefore the victim died in a stairwell, and the suspect is alleged to have hit her with a hammer. Sometimes I think these reporters believe that as long as the word allegedly gets into the sentence somewhere, they’re covered.

In a case like fraud charges against Conrad Black, it’s different. There’s no single victim so the crime must actually be proven as well. But allegedly still works, if it’s used correctly. There are so many shades of grey in the use of this word and my belief is that too many broadcasters think only in black and white.