I am writing in response to the “article” published on December 19, 2024 titled “Wrong-way driving UGA prof who fled gets off with traffic tickets,” linked here.
It has come to my attention that several incorrect and disparaging claims were made in the linked “article” showing a concerning lack of journalistic integrity and impartiality for the following reasons:
1. The headline itself makes a definitive claim that Dr. Escalante fled from the police, rather than posit that the issue of fleeing was still an allegation that had not yet been proven in court. Additionally, the use of the term “gets off” implies to a reasonable reader that the citations given do not match the severity of the alleged violation. In other words, that the alleged violations were of greater severity than the citations given.
2. In the body of the “article,” the fact that these violations (both the wrong way turn and failure to yield) were alleged was only acknowledged in the first sentence of the first paragraph. The rest of the body of the “article” does take statements from the incident report, however, to a reasonable reader, seems to present them as fact, again, without confirmation or evidence that Dr. Escalante was proved guilty of these violations, the only instance in which the statements made in the police report and in this “article” could be presented as fact.
3. Given the choice of the quotes used from the incident report, including the officer’s false statement that Dr. Escalante warranted a review by the DMV for his ability to drive, and the manner in which the allegations were presented, there seems to be reasonable evidence that this “article” was an attempt at disparaging Dr. Escalante’s reputation within a community to which he has dedicated decades of his life.
The issues cited above are only further proven and justified by the fact that the failure to yield/fleeing and evading charge was quickly dismissed by the District Attorney’s office this morning, disproving the egregiously unjust and biased accusations Officer Christopher Tucker made towards Dr. Escalante in his incident report.
I expect that, presuming your publication is reputable and one of integrity, whose sole purpose is to provide unbiased communications to, and keep aware, the citizens of Athens Clarke County, that at the very least you will remove this “article” from your website and/or pursue the more appropriate response, which is to issue a retraction and an apology to Dr. Escalante for perpetuating untrue and disparaging claims against him.
In the future, I hope that you conduct your journalistic endeavors more responsibly and take serious your responsibility to the residents of Athens Clarke County and your readership, to provide unbiased, factually correct news.
Best,
Carmina Taylor
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