ABC Affiliate Apologizes for Story About Crime Wave in Affluent DC Neighborhood: ‘Implied Wealthy Neighborhood Should Have Less Crime’

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ABC News affiliate WJLA apologized this week for a story about crime in an affluent neighborhood in Washington, D.C., saying it was wrong to suggest wealthy neighborhoods “should have less crime.”

“Amid $M homes, Capitol Hill neighborhood sees rise in murders, carjackings, shootings,” the Oct. 18 story’s headline originally said, using an abbreviation for “million.” Adding crucial context about the upscale Washington ward — where residents include Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) — the story noted, “It is a neighborhood of some million-dollar houses, even million-dollar condos, yet in the past two weeks, two homicides on the same block and at least two carjackings.”

In an editor’s note and subsequent message on social media, WJLA said it was wrong to suggest affluent neighborhoods might have less violent crime.

“After reviewing an earlier version of this story, we realized the tone did not accurately reflect our reporting concerning crime,” the outlet said in a note visible as of Thursday. “The headline and lede have been updated.”

Omitting the original context, the amended headline stated, “Capitol Hill neighborhood sees rise in murders, violent crimes.” The introduction was revised to eliminate similar details, and the publication issued an apology on Twitter.

“We have deleted a tweet that implied wealthy neighborhoods should have less crime,” WJLA said in its profuse apology. “We apologize for the tone on that post and adjusted our copy to more accurately reflect that crime can happen anywhere.”