Losing the meaning

 Today as I was scrolling through YouTube I saw a suggested video with the headline:

Suspect killed while trying to rob $40 from food truck, family says

Let's overlook that the headline suggests it was the family of the "suspect" who said that the suspect was killed while trying to rob a food truck. (It wasn't. It was the family of the operators of the food truck who said the suspect was killed while trying to rob the food truck, but I do understand that headlines have to be quick and dirty.)

For reference, here is the video in question:

 

I understand and thoroughly agree with the use of the word "suspect." Unless you are a certain former President who shall remain nameless, everyone is entitled to the presumption of "innocent until proven guilty." However, in the video, the "suspect" is not named. The video says someone tried to rob a food truck, stuck a gun inside and pulled the trigger only to have the gun jam, then was shot by the intended victims. As the "perp" was not named, why not just say "man killed while trying to rob food truck?"

Beyond that, though, look at what the headline says. "Suspect killed while trying to rob food truck...." What good does it do to call him a suspect then declare that he was trying to commit a robbery? That defeats the purpose of calling him a "suspect." Perhaps "Man shot while allegedly trying to rob food truck" would work better. It remains non-judgemental about the man's actions.

I have seen news stories that said "The suspect was arrested for allegedly (insert crime here). Either Joe Blow is suspected of committing a crime, or Joe Blow allegedly committed a crime. He is not suspected of allegedly committing a crime.

Someone I know once worked under a news director who said "Police don't look for suspects. They look for the person who did it." Very wise words. If the person is not named then why pussyfoot around? Someone committed or tried to commit the crime.

I am not the greatest wordsmith to ever sit at a keyboard, but I do wish that people who write for a living had a better understanding of how to use their most important tool -- language.