As Florida State University students and faculty attempt to comprehend the motivation of a gunman who shot three students on campus early Thursday morning, most in the media are doing their best to be respectful of a community in shock.
I wrote “most,” because in its reporting, The New York Times couldn’t resist being, well, The New York Times.
At the end of reporter Ken Rosen’s account of the tragedy is a subtle dig at FSU.
“The university, one of the largest in Florida, has about 40,000 students enrolled in 16 colleges spread across Tallahassee, the state capital. The university has recently drawn criticism after reports that athletes on its football team, a contender for this year’s national collegiate championship, had received preferential treatment from the police in criminal matters.”
Because criticism of the football team, much of it driven by The Times‘ own reporting, is relevant to the situation at hand?
Couldn’t The Times have given it a rest, just for today?
***Update – As of 1 p.m., the offending paragraph has been scrubbed from The Times’ story.***
