Opinion: Asheville online news outlet claims CT story has error on downtown crime

At a time when trust in the media is at a record low, the importance of journalistic integrity could not be greater. So it was a shock to Asheville Watchdog when, on April 9, a news story in the Asheville Citizen Times accused us — by name, deliberately, wrongly and disparagingly — of spreading misinformation, the biggest sin a news organization can make.

The Citizen Times accused our staff of promulgating the "myth" that downtown Asheville was more ridden with violent crime than the city's public housing projects.

We were mystified and angered. We remain so following the paper’s response to our concerns and our request for a correction.

Here’s the offending paragraph:

The resolution comes in the wake of a Citizen Times investigation showing that the highest concentration of violent crime is not downtown — a myth promulgated by downtown merchants, other downtown-oriented groups and local media including Asheville Watchdog and Fox News saying the city center had become intolerably dangerous — but in three affordable housing neighborhoods run by Asheville Housing Authority.

The statement that we have promulgated a myth couldn’t be further from the truth.

The Watchdog was founded as a public service by veteran journalists and media executives. Our journalists have won or shared in five Pulitzer Prizes. As we state on our site, we provide nonpartisan, fact-based, in-depth news stories.

In 2023, we published a 12-part series, "Down Town," which focused on how crime, homelessness and drug abuse had affected downtown Asheville. It reported that while most crime in Asheville occurs downtown, the highest concentration of violent crime occurs in Asheville’s public housing. It. won national journalism accolades.

Here’s an excerpt:

To many residents, Asheville does feel less safe. Residents of the city’s public housing developments report being afraid in their homes because of gun violence. Downtown merchants and residents say they see more erratic behavior, including yelling, illicit sex, and defecating in public spaces. Used drug needles litter some sidewalks. People living on the streets say they, too, are afraid and have been robbed and assaulted.

Zack, in a recent interview at police headquarters, said most of the city’s crimes occur downtown, but the more serious crimes — violent assaults and homicides — are predominantly in the city’s public housing developments.

The story quoted a public housing development resident describing homicides and shootings that put residents on edge.

Executive Editor Peter Lewis demanded a correction April 9. We waited for a response, but didn’t receive one. So we corrected the record ourselves. Lewis wrote this piece, which also pointed out that we had previously debunked Fox News’ reports that crime was soaring in Asheville.

The Citizen Times amended its story,removing the names of Asheville Watchdog and Fox News, but continued to blame "local media" for promulgating the "myth" that crime was worse downtown than in public housing. We have been unable to identify any local media that made such a claim;  in fact, The Watchdog reported the opposite.

The Citizen Times did not issue a correction or inform readers that the story had been changed.

It’s standard practice to acknowledge errors and clearly correct them. The Society of Professional Journalists’ Code of Ethics instructs journalists, “Acknowledge mistakes and correct them promptly and prominently. Explain corrections and clarifications carefully and clearly.”

We asked theCitizen Times on April 10 why there was no acknowledgement of the error. On April 13, the Citizen Times added this editor’s note to the top of its story: “This story was updated online April 10 to clarify original wording that it is a myth that downtown is more dangerous than public housing neighborhoods, but it is rather a perception generated by downtown groups and media outlets that downtown had become intolerably dangerous.”

This note was insufficient and didn’t acknowledge that the story initially had disparaged The Watchdog by name. The note should have read:

Correction: This story originally stated incorrectly that Asheville Watchdog had promulgated a myth that downtown is more dangerous than public housing neighborhoods. In fact, the Watchdog reported that public housing had more violent crime. We regret the error.

Such wording would have made clear to readers that the original story was inaccurate and would have set the record straight forthrightly.

Keith Campbell is the managing editor of Asheville Watchdog.

Editor's note: The Citizen Times regrets any misunderstanding that might have been caused by the original wording in our story detailing the city's housing authority's resolution to grant budget authority for a new security pilot program in the wake of Citizen Times reporting on crime in public housing. 

We stand by our story and the subsequent note of clarification.

Asheville Watchdog, in its 12-part series, “Down Town,” did mention that most of the city’s violent crimes occur in public housing “projects.”

This was stated in a handful of paragraphs in part 2. Then, Watchdog focused 10 more parts on downtown Asheville without again mentioning the violent crimes occurring in Asheville’s public housing neighborhoods.

This omission, as well as phrasing that downtown had descended into “squalor and lawlessness,” perpetuates the perception that downtown Asheville is the most dangerous part of the city.

This narrative was dispelled by a Citizen Times investigation, using the Asheville Police Department’s own data, to show that this is a false perception.

An excerpt from “Downtown Asheville not so dangerous? Data: These neighborhoods have more crime, violence:”

"In March, April and July of 2023, Fox News ran multiple stories on downtown, featured for years by national media as a top place to visit but that Fox characterized in a March 6 story as having a sharp increase in 'lawless behavior.'

"Multiple people who work in downtown Asheville, North Carolina, bemoaned the condition of the city and pinpointed a lack of police presence to its decline, the story said.

"Fox referenced a 12-part series by Asheville Watchdog about what the local news outlet called a 'deteriorating' downtown. Inspiration for the project came after a reporter's experiences dining downtown at a favorite restaurant and seeing the problems, according to a Watchdog story on the origin and impact of the series."

This article originally appeared on Asheville Citizen Times: Opinion: Asheville online news outlet claims ACT crime story in error