As a young reporter working the night beat, one of my duties was to call the police department every hour. “Anything new to report?” I’d ask the sergeant. There would be a shuffling of papers, and the officer might inform me about an assault, a break-in, an arrest, or a charge.
It was a quick and easy way to provide fodder for the newspaper, and in those days, it didn’t even occur to reporters to question the validity of any of the information offered. Nor did our editors ever suggest we try to get the perspective of the person charged before running their name in the paper.
