The Asheville Citizen-Times, which was among those papers that assumed from the start that the Duke lacrosse players were guilty, has now apologized. Executive Editor Susan Ihne writes today:

Did we jump the gun with an April 8 editorial about the Duke lacrosse incident?

It appears we did, even though we waited more than three weeks to comment.

We made a mistake, because even after three weeks — and now nearly 10 months — people still don’t know what happened.

Near the end of the editorial, we said: “We hope to see a thorough police investigation into this matter so that the guilty — the attackers and those who covered for them — can be punished.”

Our mistake was in saying “the attackers and those who covered for them.” That phrase assumed there was a rape, even though earlier in the editorial, we referred to it as an “alleged rape.”

It now appears there may not have been a rape at all. We should have considered that possibility and not included that phrase.

Well, duh! That is Journalism 101. Why did this case in particular cause so many otherwise responsible journalists to abandon their procedures and ethics? What about this story blinded them so? I think we all know. It was ideology, political correctness and a desire for it to be so that three privilege white males did this dastardly deed. Simple as that, in my opinion.

(Hat tip: Bob Lee Swagger)