With many of the news stories that I read, my experience with an article is often enhanced when I look to the comments section to see what other readers think; however, some of the comments section on articles pertaining to rape allegations against Bill Cosby are absolutely sickening. From a journalistic perspective, the disgust I feel when reading the public’s replies stems not only from those who describe a vile indifference to the nature of the abhorrent claims, but from the (sadly numerous) respondents who refuse to believe the allegations purely on the grounds of Cosby’s nature as an American icon. Even worse, and perhaps most numerous of all, are the comments written by readers who attempt to justify their inability to digest the possibility of Cosby’s actions with “facts” or theories that these loyal fans need to believe. I have seen way too many comments along the lines of “it can’t be true, because Bill Cosby isn’t the type to rape!” or “the women must be lying, because this situation is so implausible”  on such articles and have since concluded that it is not just the disbelieving Cosby fans who are at fault for such naivete, but the media itself, too.

With respect to the Cosby situation, one of the fallacies committed by reporters is the failure to emphasize incompleteness of the story. Whether or not Bill Cosby actually committed these rapes will likely never be known: the clustered timing of the women’s allegations makes them subject to suspicion, but Cosby’s blanket denial of their truth can also be dismissed as a need to preserve (what is now left of) his public image. After reading a number of articles on the topic – and, of course, the comments accompanying them – it becomes clear that America’s love for Bill Cosby has impeded reporters’ ability to withhold concrete personal opinions. Every Cosby story that I have seen aims to answer the question of whether or not these rapes were committed, and thus, every Cosby story that I have read is more of an opinion piece than an objective news story. This is not the goal of journalism. Instead of effectively force-feeding their readers opinions, reporters need to deliver factual information. It is not the job of the reporter to pass judgment upon the information provided; rather, the reporter needs to concisely organize facts in such a way that readers can infer (instead of completely accept or completely reject) the details of a story for themselves. Journalists who have been covering the Cosby story need to stay as objective as possible and withhold judgment of facts, especially because in this situation, clear-cut facts do not exist.

I feel that the coverage of Bill Cosby’s rape allegations as a whole is still up in the air. There is no evidence to prove the claims as truth, but his innocence is also very questionable. Much of the earlier coverage of the rape allegations was never given the publicity it needed to advance the investigations. Due to the fact that Bill Cosby had such a clean and reputable image, people doubted the claims made against him. On the other hand, many sources also took his words out of proportion and blatantly accused Bill Cosby of rape despite the lack of solid evidence.

The issues and challenges reporters face when covering a story like this is the lack of resources. Despite the fact that there isn’t enough lawful evidence behind the allegations, people tend not to question people like Bill Cosby. Bill Cosby was a social icon, which starkly contrasts the person these allegations make him out to be. Reporters generally have to take a side, whether they are for him or against him. The articles that have been published thus far generally do just this. They question the validity of the claims people have made against Bill Cosby or they declare Bill Cosby as a rapist. Journalists have to choose either black or white because everything in between is just a big blob of uncertainty.