# Multimedia 

Multimedia 

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- [Cato Video](/multimedia/cato-video)
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Cato Weekly Podcast • June 19, 2020 

# Cops, Reporters, and “the Exonerative Tense” 

Reporters who want to clearly detail the level of police professionalism to the public must first contend with the linguistic flourishes present in police reports. Radley Balko of *The Washington Post* calls it “the exonerative tense.”

[![Creative Commons License](/build/cato_2020/images/creative-commons.svg)](http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/) 
This work is licensed under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/). 

##### Featuring 

[![Media Name: balko.jpg](/sites/cato.org/files/styles/author_picture/public/authors/crops/balko.jpg?itok=-cKdI_vC)](/people/radley-balko) 

##### [Radley Balko](/people/radley-balko)

Freelance Criminal Justice Journalist and Founder, *The Watch*

[![Square face shot of Caleb O. Brown.](/sites/cato.org/files/styles/author_picture/public/2021-01/cbrown_sq.jpg?itok=zSWLm8kR)](/people/caleb-o-brown) 

##### [Caleb O. Brown](/people/caleb-o-brown)

Former Director of Multimedia, Host and Executive Producer, *Cato Daily Podcast*, Cato Institute