Don't miss today's op-ed in Newsday by Georgetown Professor Marc Howard, who went to school with Marty from early childhood on. In a beautiful piece called "Marty Was the Key," Marc acknowledges the work of private eye Jay Salpeter, the lawyers, the family and the rest of Team Tankleff, but shines the spotlight on the "captain" of the team, the one who kept everyone going in the darkest times, Marty himself.
Marc was editor of their high school newspaper, the Purple Parrot, when he learned of the Tankleff murders and Marty's arrest. We've told this story before, but we never get tired of it. While Newsday's reporters were taking stenography from the DA, under headlines like "Deadly Temper Tantrum? Prosecutors: anger led to son's attack; he pleads not guilty," Marc and his high school colleagues were practicing real journalism and giving Newsday a well-deserved spanking along the way. Here's Marc's October 1988 editorial from the Purple Parrot:
The local coverage of the incident surrounding ELVHS senior Marty Tankleff is troublesome for journalists and readers.
By quoting prosecutors throughout their articles, the press made it appear that Marty's guilt was undeniable. Indeed, "Newsday" went so far as to quote the prosecutors in the headlines. This is intolerable, especially now that it seems many more factors have come into the case (see article, page 1).
Yes, the press does have a responsibility to report the facts, but the statements of prosecutors are hardly facts! In a country that has lived on the presumption of "innocent until proven guilty," we would hope that the press would take more seriously its journalistic responsibility.
Just because Suffolk County convicts over 90% of accused criminals, it doesn't mean that 100% are guilty. Especially not in a case that has proved to be so complex.
We the editors of "The Purple Parrot" believe in "innocent until proven guilty." We are far from convinced of Marty's guilt, and therefore presume him innocent. We welcome him back to school, and wish him luck.
Today's spread in Newsday includes Marty's and Marc's high school photos, complete with a list of their extracurricular activities, which we promise them we will never, ever print.
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