Grand Rapids Institute for Information Democracy

Analysis:

This is another example of television news as a conduit for official voices. Several claims are presented here that are not questioned by the reporter. Two different voices are presented speaking about the Iraqi insurgency, stating as fact claims that are debatable. President Bush states that the insurgents are inspired by ideology or religion, saying, “murderers are inspired by an ideology that is…barbaric and backwards.” This is followed by the head of the Arab-American Institute stating that the insurgents are Sunni Muslims affiliated with Saddam Hussein. Neither of these two depictions of the Iraqi insurgency is either confirmed or challenged by the reporter.

The other voice heard in the story is a Bush administration spokesman. In this quote the spokesman says that the US has investigated and prosecuted those responsible for the prison abuse scandal in Iraq. Aside from the fact that this is only tangentially related to the story of the Saddam pictures, it is a statement which could easily be challenged by a reporter but is not. According to reports by Seymour Hersh, the military did not do anything about the torture of detainees until the torture issue became public, and even then, no officers at the upper end of the command structure were prosecuted.

The reporter does not question the government’s statement that the pictures of Saddam “possibly violate the Geneva Convention.” When Saddam was captured over a year ago, the government released pictures of him being examined by doctors. The government also released photos of Iraqi prisoners of war in 2003. These actions could also be considered violations of international law and yet the reporter does not question this apparent double standard.

Story:

Newsreader – Tonight the Pentagon is condemning the publication of some shocking new photos. First released in Britain, they also showed up in this morning’s New York Post. The most graphic image shows Saddam Hussein wearing nothing but his underwear. FOX 17’s Grant Rampy has the latest on the photo controversy.

Reporter – Saddam Hussein in his underwear on the front page of a British tabloid. Inside the paper he is seen washing out his laundry by hand. Many Iraqis are offended.

Iraqi – What we saw on TV is not right. Saddam Hussein is an Iraqi and we are a civilized country.

Reporter – Others say the pictures may be humiliating but their former dictator deserves this and more. As the White House makes it’s displeasure clear, the president expressing confidence that the images won’t spark a new wave of violence, a matter that’s up for debate.

Bush – I don’t think a, uh, a photo inspires murderers. I think they are inspired by an ideology that is so barbaric and backwards that it’s hard for many in the Western World to comprehend how they think.

Jean Abi Nader (Arab-American Institute) – Remember, the insurgency is primarily fueled by Sunni Muslims who were affiliated with Saddam Hussein, so this is just going to add more fuel to the fire.

Reporter – the Pentagon meanwhile is hunting for the leaker. Officials say the pictures were taken in clear violation of DoD directives and possibly Geneva Convention guidelines. They’re also expressing disappointment that some one responsible for the security, welfare, and detention of Saddam would provide these photos for public release. The administration points out the military personal who took the Abu Ghraib photos are being dealt with.

Trent Duffy (Press Secretary)- People are going to jail, people are serving time because of those abuses, and likewise there will be a thorough investigation into this instance and similar accountability measures will be taken.

Reporter – the editors of the British tabloid The Sun say they paid their source around $900 beyond that they’re keeping quiet. The shots may end up costing them though; Saddam’s lawyer says he plans to sue. At the Pentagon, Grant Rampy FOX News at ten.

Newsreader – In the Arab world, some see this as another insult to Muslims. The photos are believed to have been recorded by a security camera or shot by a prison guard early last year.

Total time: 2 minutes, 8 seconds

Analysis:

This story is nothing more than an ad for Netflix and Wal-Mart. In fact, it almost reads as a Press Release. The video “file” that they use could be a VNR created for Netflix, but the clip is not sourced. Unfortunately, viewers do not get regular news stories that are critical of Wal-Mart to balance out these pro-Wal-Mart stories.

Story:

WXMI 17 News reader – Well, if you can’t beat them, join them. That is what the world’s largest retailer is doing, when it comes to online DVD rentals. Wal-Mart says it is turning over its entire rental services to the competition, Netflix. Under the agreement, they’ll cross promote. Existing Wal-Mart customers can transfer their agreement to Netflix for the same price. And Netflix will redirect people to buy their DVDs at Wal-Mart.

Total Time – 21 seconds

Analysis:

This story is like one big promotional piece for the 3 big video game makers. Viewers are subjected to comments from company reps, sales people and customers who are big video gamers. The majority of the video footage used is that of people playing games, footage directly from video games or in stores with people who buy or sell video games. Some of the footage is from ABC, specifically that of the E3 Expo in Los Angeles. The rest of the footage was shot at Best Buy in the Grand Rapids area. Viewers should ask themselves if it is problematic to highlight one retail store over another, particularly one as big as Best Buy?

The story also mentions several times that the news game systems will be available to buy soon – “most of the games will be hitting the shelf in the Fall and at Christmas time;” and “Some of the new consul systems should be available in time for the holiday shopping season.” At one point near the end of the story the reporter asks a young boy and a college age guy how much they play video games. The young boy replies “4 hours a day at least.” Do you think it would be appropriate at this point for the reporter to ask questions about the impact of that much video game playing, especially for children?

Story:

WZZM 13 News reader #1 – Video games are about to get faster, brighter and smarter.

WZZM 13 News reader #2 – The big 3 video game companies are all coming out with their latest generation of game systems. WZZM 13’s Phil Dawson is here to show us what’s coming up.

Reporter – Sony, Nintendo and Microsoft all they will introduce new systems in the next 12 months. It will be the first major upgrade in 5 years, and in West Michigan the buzz has already begun.

In the gaming department at Best Buy the staff is getting ready to sell and to play the next generation of video game consuls systems.

Best Buy Staff – Clearer picture, better sound. It is gonna be awesome. I am very excited about it.

Reporter – Some future products are coming to electronic stores are on display this week at the E3 Expo in Los Angeles.

Video Game Producer – This is where we saw all the newest games that are gonna be coming out and it is actually most of the games will be hitting the shelf in the Fall and at Christmas time.

Video Game Salesman – In order to succeed in your goals you’re going to have to think fast, move fast, and kill fast.

Reporter – But you don’t have to be in LA to know what is on the horizon in the gaming industry. Sony is coming out with Playstation 3, Nintendo has a new Cube, and X-Box 360 is the new offering from Micro-soft.

Microsoft Manager – It’s huge, it’s a big, big statement for us. The next generation of consuls starts now.

Reporter – Some of the new consul systems should be available in time for the holiday shopping season. Players are eager to experience the next level.

Young Boy/Player – The graphics and a lot more different games that don’t really play on other systems.

Teenage Game Player – More hi-tech games, they got more graphics to it.

Reporter – How much time do you spend playing video games, per day?

Young Boy/Player – 4 hours a day at least.

Teenage Game Player – If I got a day off, I’ll play, I’ll be on there for hours.

Best Buy Staff – So I think everybody is ready for this new system. It’s been 5 years, it’s been a long wait. Everybody has been waiting for the new thing. It’s coming, it’s on its way.

Reporter – These new systems will cost about 300 dollars.

Total time – 1 minute and 56 seconds

Analysis:

This is a fairly long story as local TV news goes. Notice how little actual information was provided in this story. It is useful that channel 8 tells viewers that the White House created and orchestrated the look of Bush’s visit, by even dictating “what the TV will show 90% of the time.”

One question for viewers to ask themselves is, is there a journalistic obligation for differing perspectives, especially when one perspective make disparaging comments directed at the other? If people or groups that organized the protest had made critical comments of Peter Seechia, do you think channel 8 would have let it go at that?

Story:

WOOD TV 8 News reader #1 – The countdown is on until the most powerful man in the world arrives in West Michigan.

WOOD TV 8 News reader #2 – So how exactly did Calvin College land President George W. Bush as a Speak? Brad Edwards is live at Calvin with the answer.

Reporter – Well it is a little bit of who you know and a little bit of luck. Officials here say that this years graduation ceremony will be a spitting image of last years and every other year for that matter, except for the Presidential part. Better sounds system, check. More fencing, check. Industrial renting air conditioning unit, check, which is as close as we get to inside, with the Secret Service now in charge. The President is coming. How?

Peter Secchia – It feels wonderful to know that the President is going to come to our town.

Reporter – The two credited by college officials for landing the President, Peter Secchia, businessman and former Ambassador, and former Calvin student, prof and now Congressman Vern Ehlers. So how again?

Peter Secchia – Well, we are always making suggestions. Whether it’s Tulip festival or Grand Valley, Calvin, Michigan State and sometimes we hit and sometimes we don’t.

Reporter – And under the promise of perfect whether, this will be a hit.

Calvin Vice President – I chair the task force that is coordinating the specialness of this day.

Reporter – Calvin Vice President Tom McWherton says this year will be different. The speaker of course and the speech.

Calvin Vice President – Normally our commencement speeches are 12 to 15 minutes, but I am told the President’s speech will be about 20.

Reporter – Are you gonna give him that 5 minutes?

Calvin Vice President – I think we are going to give it to him.

Reporter – And they have had to make changes, like…

Calvin Vice President – We had to change the back drop so that there was a good color there for television.

Reporter – The White House’s school came up with this. The Presidential podium and a Calvin burgundy back drop. The note on the rendering says what the TV will show 90% of the time. It’s all nearing ready. The only concern for the former Ambassador, a key in the big get, to promise of protesters.

Peter Secchia – No full page ads, no….Let’s not major in minors, let’s get things done, let’s build our community up. Those people who are unhappy he is coming here, let’s not have him come here, let’s have nobody.

Reporter – With that said it’s the prep, the work, the walk all rolled into one make for a Saturday visit by a sitting President. And as for the tickets, they are all gone, all free mainly to student’s families. As for the original guest speaker, a former professor here and at Yale University, a noted religious philosopher. Well, he graciously stepped aside this year. He’ll be speaking next year.

Total Time – 2 minutes and 38 seconds

Analysis:

WOOD 8 TV reported that local man Willy Winters was found innocent of charges of “hindering and opposing” police officers during a incident involving a traffic stop. The all white jury decided to take the word of Mr. Winters, an eighteen year old African American over the five police officers who were involved with the arrest. Reportedly, the jury was swayed by the injuries that Mr. Winters sustained to his face, hands and knees as well as police video footage showing officers spraying mace at Mr. Winters. The video shows Mr. Winters exit his car and walk toward the officer who sprays him while several feet away. Also shown in the video is Mr. Winters Mother who approaches the officers, and who, according to testimony, was taken to the ground and handcuffed by officers as well.
While this was the first mention of Willie Winters in the local TV news, it was not the first time the footage had been used. In a previous news deconstruction, GRIID looked at the story of the Urban League’s report on disproportionate arrest rates for African Americans by the GRPD for hindering and opposing. In these stories the footage of Mr. Winters being sprayed with mace was shown without any explanation of what the particulars of the case were. The footage was shown multiple times by all three local TV stations as background footage while the news readers talked about hindering and opposing arrests. At the time that this footage was originally shown, none of the stations gave any information about the particulars of Mr. Winters case, or even that he was on trial and that a verdict had not yet been reached. When Mr. Winters was found innocent, Channel 8 ran a story about it, unlike the other two local stations. So essentially, for two of the local news stations, this footage was used only when they needed to show a black man “hindering and opposing the GRPD. When that same man was found innocent of those charges, they choose not to run that story.

Story:

Newsreader #1 – Not guilty…a Grand Rapids teenager says he will sue the Grand Rapids Police Department for physical and emotional damages.
Newsreader #2 – A jury yesterday found 18-year-old Willie Winters not guilty of criminal charges…charges that some people say police are trumping up and abusing.
Newsreader #1 – Twenty-four Hour News 8’s Dray Clark is live tonight outside police headquarters in downtown Grand Rapids to bring us the latest on this story…Dray?
Reporter – Well Suzie, from day one Willie Winters said he was not guilty and would fight the criminal charges all the way to court. It was his word against that of five Grand Rapids Police officers. The case was left in the hands of seven jurors who came back with a “not guilty” verdict. We want to warn you…some of the images you’re going to see in this story are graphic.
B-Roll – “…9:40 AM, you’re on the line with Robert S. …”
Reporter – He’s off the hook, and now on the airwaves. Eighteen-year-old Willie Winters thanked the community for its support.
B-Roll – Winters: “…I love you, thanks…”
Reporter – Winters’ story begins last September on Fox Avenue. Grand Rapids police, dashboard cameras rolling, pull over a car for speeding…Winters’ neighbor is the driver. The officer first tells the passenger to sit down.
B-Roll – Police: “Get in the car!” Winters: “Man, take me…”
Reporter – Seconds later, the driver jumps out.
B-Roll – Driver: “Man, f*** you motherf***ers! F***! Man, f*** you!”
Reporter – The officer draws back and sprays Mace.
B-Roll – Winters: “Hey man! *time elapse* my Mom…she’s handicapped.”
Reporter – Here you see the driver’s mother, wearing a robe, confront officers, but she’s taken away. Winters says when his mother tried telling police the woman was handicapped she was handcuffed, and when he rushed over to help his mother he claims he was cuffed, pushed to the ground, and beaten.
Willie Winters – I was scared…I didn’t thing I was gonna make it through the night.
Reporter – Winters’ mouth was busted, his hand were bloody, and his leg was bruised. Winters’ attorney Kevin Floyd.
Lawyer – This young man has sat in this chair in my office with his mother and just, you know, sheer tears, him and his mother, sheer tears over this whole incident.
Reporter – Winters was charged with hindering and opposing and creating a disturbance. He rejected a plea deal in favor of a trial. Five officers testified; two of them claimed Winters pushed an officer and had to be forced to the ground. But that was the one thing the police video didn’t show, which hurt their defense. Police chief Harry Dolan.
Police Chief Dolan – They can only capture what’s occurring in front. The officer can’t stop or call a time out, go back to the car and turn the camera.
Reporter – But an all-white jury didn’t believe the officer’s testimony and delivered not guilty verdicts for Winters.
Winters – I said “thank God”…thank God.
Lawyer – I think the jurors ultimately made a…a call to accept the facts based on a human given testimony.
Reporter – But Chief Dolan says despite the verdict the truth is in the tape, which he says clearly shows Winters and his neighbors turned on police.
Dolan – This case has been resolved. We conducted a complete and lengthy investigation into this matter, and the officers have been exonerated. They used appropriate force given the totality of the circumstances they were confronted with.
Winters – You just can’t do that to everyone and think nothing is going to go unjustified, you know?
Reporter – And Willie Winters’ attorney Kevin Floyd says someone has to pay for his clients pain and suffering, so he plans to file a civil lawsuit against the Grand Rapids Police Department. Willie Winters says at the very least the officers involved should offer him an apology. We’re live in downtown Grand Rapids—Dray Clark, 24-Hour News 8.
Newsreader #2 – Thanks you, Dray. Meantime, the Grand Rapids City Commission is considering now an ordinance to, it hopes; better define the charge of “hindering and opposing.” The proposal would allow charges against anyone who willfully and, now here’s the key word, “knowingly” impedes, interferes, or obstructs an officers investigation. The word change comes at the recommendation of County Commissioner Paul Mayhew…we ought to know more in a few weeks.

Analysis:

Much like the story last month about the “suicidal opossum”, this is a fluff piece with no relevance to West Michigan. This particular piece follows the same pattern of the opossum piece, pairing a popular song, in this case Rick James “Superfreak”, with some unusual animal footage.

Story:

(story starts with “Superfreak” by Rick James)

Newsreader #1 – Well a strange sight in New Mexico gave a rancher a shock. Check it out, this calf has five legs and six hooves. He doesn’t’t even belong to the rancher who farms the land, he just kind of hangs out on the property. So far no one really knows what to do with him, but for now the curious cow just keeps hoofing around.

Newsreader #2 – I want to see it again. (laughter) Go figure.

Newsreader #1 – I’m speechless.

Newsreader #2 – I call it cinco for five, five legs.

Newsreader #1 – There you go.

Total Time: 35 seconds

Analysis:

On May 17, WZZM 13 ran a short piece about the scandal surrounding a Newsweek article alleging that U.S. interrogators had desecrated a copy of the Koran. This was a very short piece and is indicative of how the local TV news covers international issues. The entire transcript is only four sentences, and, as we have often seen in local TV reporting, only the U.S. government version of events is presented. So the idea that these protests are solely the result of an article in Newsweek is not questioned in this brief report. Nor does the story address the issue of whether the charges of Koran abuse are true or not. The reporter states that “the policy is respect for the holy book”, and yet many cases of the Koran being abused have been reported in several different independent sources prior to the Newsweek article. On Sunday May 22 the LA times ran a story documenting several examples of the Koran being used during interrogations at Guantanamo bay. Also worth noting is the fact that anchor notes, without any comment, that the White house is proposing a story for Newsweek to run. Most people would consider it inappropriate in a society with a free press for the government to pressure news agencies to publish stories promoting the government version of events.

Story:

Newsreader: The Muslim world was ripped by more anti-American riots today and the Bush Administration asked Newsweek magazine to help stop that violence. In Indonesia there was another demonstration to protest alleged American desecration of the Koran. Today the White house proposed Newsweek put out stories on what the Administration calls the “truth about the Koran at U.S. military prisons like Guantanamo.” The policy there is respect for the Muslim holy book.

Analysis:

Here is another article giving free publicity to a product tied to the new Star Wars film. This particular article was one of three articles in the “Your Life” section in the May 16 edition of the GR Press dealing with Star Wars video games. This article, “the force will be felt in its legacy of video games” was 24 inches long. For comparative purposes, our data shows that in the last presidential election, the GR Press ran only one article out of all their election related articles that was over 24 inches long. Now many of these election stories were originally rather lengthy articles that the GR Press would pull off the wire and edit for length. This Star Wars article was also pulled from a wire but the editors at the GR Press evidently felt that the history a video game franchise deserved to be run in its entirety.

Story:

The Force will be felt in its legacy of video games

By Matt Slagle
The Associated Press

There are probably enough “Star Wars” video games to fill a space cruiser. And let’s face it: Many of them probably should have been destroyed along with those pesky Death Stars.

But like the enduring saga of good versus evil upon which they’re based, a few used the mythic story and fantastical locales very successfully. On the eve of the final “Star Wars Episode III —Revenge of the Sith,” we reflect like a Jedi Master on some of the more memorable moments in Star Wars gaming.

If we’re going to cover the entire history of Star Wars games, we’ll have to go back to a time long, long ago, when arcades still ruled the galaxy.

Though it debuted years after “Episode IV: A New Hope,” Atari’s “Star Wars” coin-op in 1983 was just as amazing as the first film’s opening space battle.

Using simple but smooth color vector graphics, you piloted an X-Wing through swarms of Imperial TIE fighters, then attacked the Death Star. Many quarters were lost in my quest to defeat the evil galactic empire.

We’ll have to fast forward almost a decade before another “Star Wars” game grabbed me so, umm, forcefully.

A time long, long ago

It was 1992, and the movie prequels were on the distant horizon. But I had a Super Nintendo Entertainment System, one of the most advanced consoles at the time, and a new “Super Star Wars” cartridge that blew me away.

This LucasArts title remains a sentimental favorite — I still dust off my SNES and play from time to time. The game followed the movie events precisely, with stereo sound and excellent color graphics in a side-scrolling adventure. As Luke Skywalker, I ran through the deserts of Tatooine, braved dingy Mos Eisley cantinas, then blew up the Death Star all over again.

Two “Super” follow-ups based on “The Empire Strikes Back” and “Return of the Jedi” added force powers and other extras but were also light-years tougher.

If you survived “Episode I: The Phantom Menace,” then you’ll no doubt remember one of its highlights: the exhilarating racing sequence, when the cute, cuddly version of future Sith Lord Darth Vader straps on some goggles and leaves his foes choking on pod fumes.

So what if it came off as a ploy to sell video games? “Star Wars Episode I: Racer,” for the PC, Macintosh, Sega Dreamcast and Nintendo 64 was a high-speed ride through the desert mesas of Tatooine and seven other worlds. No other game simulates racing at 600 mph four feet above the ground so well.

Multiplayer letdown

A franchise as storied as this was bound to have its letdowns, and “Star Wars Galaxies: An Empire Divided” certainly fell into that category — particularly when it was first released in 2003

The massively multiplayer online game looked great but lacked the feel of a dynamic universe. And whether it was intentional or not, becoming a Jedi was nigh impossible, short of quitting your real life job and devoting all waking hours to the pursuit.

“Galaxies” has improved over time, with last fall’s “Jump to Lightspeed” expansion pack finally letting players pilot space ships. Another expansion, “Rage of the Wookiees” adds content from the forthcoming movie. Be aware that a vocal group of players are upset with recent changes to the game’s combat system, so much so they’ve petitioned the game makers to change it back.

Fan favorites

Two definitive “Star Wars” video games occur thousands of years before the movies.

“Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic” in 2003 and last year’s “Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords,” both for Xbox and the PC, captured the sense of history, action and drama better than most of the movies. It’s a fan favorite wrapped in an intriguing role-playing premise: how you act determines which side of the Force you’ll follow.

More recently, the franchise has been spun in countless directions:

“Star Wars: Battlefront” for the PlayStation 2, Xbox and PC was a first-person shooter where dozens of combatants fought each other with laser turrets and advanced weaponry. Cool ships like TIE-Fighters, however, were impossible to control. A sequel has been announced.

This year’s buildup to Sith has already seen some decent “Star Wars” games.

“Star Wars Republic Commando” was a squad-based first-person shooter set during the Clone Wars. Even colored-plastic toy brick maker Lego managed to cross-market its line of Star Wars products with “Lego Star Wars: The Video Game,” featuring Yoda, Obi-Wan Kenobi and Darth Maul among the blocky cast of heroes and villains.

Call me a nerf herder for not mentioning more, but there are just too many games to cram into one article.

Some other highlights include “Dark Forces,” “Galactic Battlegrounds,” “Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast” and the GameCube space shooter “Star Wars Rogue Leader: Rogue Squadron II.”

As for the future, fret not, young padawan learners.

LucasArts, the video game division of George Lucas’ media empire, has plenty of games coming out long after this final movie has left theaters.

© 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Analysis:

This story is the first local TV story on CAFTA that we have documented, despite many local efforts to get the word out. The channel 17 news reader starts off by saying Remember NAFTA?, which is sort of like saying remember leg warmers. NAFTA is a current trade policy, not some ancient relic.

The news reader says that Bush was meeting with 6 Latin American President’s, when in fact they are 6 Central American Presidents to discuss CAFTA. No where in the story does the news reader tell viewers what CAFTA is not any of the language of this trade proposal. Next, the news reader states that there is opposition from some sectors, but limits their opposition to just job loss. This is not an accurate depiction of the reasons, nor the groups who are opposed to CAFTA locally or nationally.

Lastly, Bush is the only voice that viewers here and he doesn’t say anything relevant to CAFTA. Viewers should ask themselves why no other voices were heard and why channel 17 didn’t question or verify the President’s statement. Viewers could also ask themselves why channel 17 chose to run that comment from Bush’s speech.

Story:

WXMI News Reader – Remember NAFTA? Now President Bush is pushing something called CAFTA, the Central America Free Trade Agreement. It’s topping Business Download segment tonight.

The President met with 6 Latin American leaders at the White House today. The agreement would loosen trade restrictions. The fight is shaping up as the biggest since NAFTA was approved a decade ago. CAFTA is opposed by labor unions, sugar farmers, and other groups convinced it will cost US jobs. They say it would benefit US exporters as well as our neighbors to the south.

President – By passing this agreement we would signal that the world’s leading trading nation was committed to closer partnership with countries in our own backyard, countries which share our values.

WXMI News Reader – Congress would have to approve the measure before it goes into affect.

Total Time: 46 seconds

Analysis:

There are many things to point out about how this story was covered. First, viewers should ask themselves if providing the age of the victim and the street names where the raped occurred violates the privacy of the victim? Second, the only people who channel 17 spoke with provided no contextual information about rape and sexual assault. Instead viewers hear from law enforcement, neighborhood people and a City Commissioner. All of them provide no real information that would be useful to viewers about either sexual assault prevention or what services for victims are available in the community.

When the police say in the story that people should keep their doors locked and not invite strangers into the home that perpetuates the myth that women are more at risk of sexual assault from strangers. Also, airing the comments from the City Commissioner borders on irresponsibility. Ask yourself, are those who commit rape more sick if they rape a 30 year old as opposed to an older woman. By running the comments from the Commissioner it lends support to the notion that rape is about sex, when in fact it has more to do with power. What reporters could do is to report on individual sexual assault cases as a public health issue, instead of merely a crime.

Story:

WXMI News Reader – People living in one Grand Rapids neighborhood still on alert tonight as an 84 year old woman was raped in her home. The attack happened on West Fulton, near John Ball Park. Fox 17’s Lisa LaPlant is live in the news room now with an update.

Reporter – Michelle, police are still looking tonight for the man. He broke into the home late night Tuesday and raped the woman upstairs in the bedroom of her home. Now neighbors are taking steps to help protect each other from another attack. From chatting on the sidewalks, to going door to door on a Spring afternoon, Carol Hennessey is a woman on a mission to prevent another attack. She took information to residents in the neighborhood where a man broke into the home of an elderly woman, then beat and raped her late Tuesday night. The woman was not able to see her attacker.

Neighborhood volunteer – When you hear of something like this you think of your own mother, of how vulnerable women are when they live alone.

Reporter – Tonight more than 30 people at the Lincoln Park pavilion heard from Police on how to protect themselves and their neighbors.

Police – Some things like locking your doors, keeping light on at night, but the most important thing we tell everybody is to know their neighbors.

Reporter – Policed received a tip from one neighbor who heard suspicious activity behind his house Tuesday night. Detectives are checking out every and any lead.

City Commissioner – It’s a pretty sick individual that would prey on somebody like that, but unfortunately there are those people in society today and that is why it is necessary to apprehend them as quickly as possible.

Reporter – It will hard for some people to sleep as long as the suspect is on the loose.

Neighborhood volunteer – I think we all feel vulnerable, we feel violated when something like this, because it is just not what you would expect. It is not what we have happen in this community.

Reporter – The 84 year old victim is still in the hospital tonight and is listed in good condition. And once again, anyone who may have seen anything suspicious should call Grand Rapids Police or Silent Observer.

Total Time – 1 minute and 58 seconds