[Vision2020] Mubita, innocence, journalism and such.

[Kai Eiselein]

Hello all,
I have to agree with Saundra that we have not heard all sides of the story.
First, my interview with Mubita was brief, I was under deadline pressure and 
I was not allowed to take a notebook or pen/pencil into the visiting room. I 
had to make the inteview perfunctory in order to keep the facts straight in 
my mind. I did jot notes as soon as I exited the jail.
Second, we have not yet heard from his accusers. At this point they are only 
known by their initials. They may or may not be identified at the hearing 
Tuesday a.m. I, for one, will not name any of them until if and when they or 
the court makes them public.
Mr. Mubita is, at this point, innocent. The allegations that have been made 
are just that, allegations. It will be up to a jury/judge to decide guilt. 
The only thing that is an established fact at this point is that he is HIV 
positive.
In defense of the "narrowness" of much of the reporting. I called the health 
department to get more facts. My call was not returned. I contacted the 
university to see if they were making any efforts to notify the student 
population, again I recieved no response. I wasn't able to talk to Duke 
because he has Mondays off and Tuesday I met with Kanay. I don't know if the 
other papers had the same problem.
One of the problems with a weekly publication is timing, sometimes we get 
information we can't use because it comes in too late for us. Case in point, 
the testing clinic Thursday. We print each Wednesday night, the paper hits 
the stands Thursday and arrives by mail to our subscribers Friday, making 
the clinic info irrelevent to them. I literally wrote my article less than 
an hour before our deadline, wanting to get as many up-to-date facts as 
possible.
Add to that, I was finalizing the purchase of a home when this all broke, so 
I was juggling a lot of things. This is supposed to be a "slow news" 
period....rigggggght.
I will keep reporting on this and will do my best to present facts, not 
speculation.
Finally, I would like to thank everyone for their compliments on the story. 
I'm more comfortable behind a lens than a keyboard and your comments made my 
day.

Kai