ACTION NEEDED: FSUNews.com, this article is an example of bad journalism
Jacob Goetz with FSUNews.com for Florida State students in Tallahassee, FL, stated that according to the Tampa Bay Times, “2017 through 2020 saw a particular increase in crime on Halloween night…Some of the most common crimes committed on Halloween are assault, battery, vandalism and SEXUAL ASSAULT.” When you read the article that Mr. Goetz references in the Tampa Bay Times, there is absolutely no mention of a sex crime of any type, let alone any research showing that sexual assaults are typical on Halloween night.
Jacob Goetz got it wrong and furthered the dangerous “sex offender” myth.
I have emailed Mr. Kervern and Mr. Putnik with FSUNews.com concerning the gross mistake Mr. Goetz made in his article. We need for more people to contact this news outlet to let them know that they “got it wrong”.
I could not find Mr. Goetz’s email address, but the following people at FSUNews.com can be contacted about this erroneous story:
Jensen Kervern, Editor-In-Chief, [email protected]
Gary Putnik, Managing Editor, [email protected]
Research can be found at floridaactioncommittee.org in the Media dropdown box under “Articles and Studies Containing Research”.
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You always do a good job of keeping our community informed. Thank you. I wonder if the email you are looking for is: [email protected]
I just sent my email to [email protected]. Now I wait to see if it is bounced back. Thanks.
It bounced back.
Well, I am eating humble pie. I was deleting some emails when I discovered that FSUNews.com did bounce back my two emails sent to the editors Sunday night. So, I chose the Contact Us selection at the bottom of their homepage and copied my letter into the provided box. You do have to give a name and email address.
My guess is that college newspaper editorial staff turn over every school year, making it a challenge to identify the right individuals.
There was a suggestion that we aim even higher (parent publisher, college president), but higher-ups may be reluctant to intervene in college reporting.
I tried to send an email to the Editor In Chief and it bounced, saying it wasn’t a valid email address.
I am not understanding why Sunday evening both of mine went through but since then others are having theirs bounce back.
Thank you, Ryan, for trying.
I just went to the “contact us” form at the website:
https://static.fsunews.com/contactus-form/
Here’s what I sent:
I’d like to respond to the article “Staying safe on Halloween as a college student.”
The reporter, Jacob Goeta, intentially misquoted a CBS article and claimed that “According to CBS News, sex offenders also tend to become more active on Halloween night.” That’s not what the article says.
The CBS article only states the following: “It’s bad enough if your garden gnome gets launched through your plate-glass window, but communities and police also worry about some really scary people. One New Jersey radio station names local sex offenders on its website. In Atlanta, police have knocked on the doors of all known felons to ensure they aren’t participating in the festivities.”
The CBS article does not mention actual statistics.
A 2009 research study found no spike of sex offenses during Halloween:
“This study found no significant increase in risk for non-familial child sexual abuse on or just prior to Halloween. Although sex offenders may use seemingly innocent opportunities to engage children and sexually abuse and therefore might be hypothesized to use trick-or-treat for ulterior purposes, this logic does not appear to translate into any actual unusual rate of sex offenses on Halloween. The absence of a Halloween effect remained constant over the 9-year period, beginning well before the current interest in Halloween sex offender policies and extending to recent years. Any Halloween policies that have been adopted by reporting jurisdictions during that period appear not to have affected the overall sex offense rate.
Halloween was also typical in terms of victim and offender characteristics, the types of child sex offenses reported, and the categories of victim–offender relationships involved. As with all other days of the year, young children are sexually victimized on Halloween. We do not suggest that there is no risk on Halloween or that anecdotal accounts of Halloween molestations should be dismissed. Nor do we suggest that parents should abandon caution and reasonable supervision of their children. But there does not appear to be need for alarm concerning sexual abuse on these particular days. In short, Halloween appears to be just another autumn day where rates of sex crimes against children are concerned. If anything, increased vigilance concerning risk should be directed to the summer months in general, where regular seasonal increases in rates are readily seen…
In this case, worries and good intentions might have inspired advocates and lawmakers to propose legislation that combats a nonexistent problem. The findings suggest that Halloween policies may in fact be targeting a new urban myth similar to past myths warning of tainted treats. The results are consistent with observations offered by law enforcement officials who do not describe any epidemic of trick-or-treaters being assaulted by known sex offenders and who have observed no unusual rate of child sexual assault events on Halloween.”
Children are three times more likely to be killed by a car on Halloween than any other time in the year, but to date, there are no laws restricting the use of cars during Halloween.
(Source: Mark Chaffin, Jill Levenson, Elizabeth Letourneau and Paul Stern. “How safe are trick-or-treaters? An analysis on sex crime rates on Halloween.” Sex Abuse 2009; 21; 363.)
There is not a unique threat from people listed on the “Sex Offense Registry.” Not every person listed on the Registry committed a violent rape or sexually abused a child. The public registry also lists teens who had consensual relations with classmates (statutory rape) or drunks who urinated behind dumpsters (indecent exposure). And over half of those listed on Florida’s government blacklist is not living in Florida communities.
Furthermore, not only are you far more likely to be victimized by someone you know and in your own home than by a stranger, most sex crime arrests are of people with no prior record, meaning that person will not be on the registry.
Having a fear of crime is NOT the same as having an actual increase in crime. Educate yourself by researching multiple sources instead of relying on a single resource, particularly a source that molds to your own cognitive biases. It is more important to BE safe than to just FEEL safe.
Thank you Derek.