All you have to do to make them look at the actual facts is to put them in the line of fire.
Then, suddenly the press sees that out of control cops are out of control cops.
It really sucks that the only way to get the press to stop it’s lazy equivalencies is to actually physically harm them.
This is not indicative of people who are good at their job:
The targeting, harassment, shooting and arrest of working journalists by police over the last several days is having a significant — maybe even profound — effect on the coverage of the mass demonstrations over the death of George Floyd.
It’s a shift from watching the protests through the eyes of the police to watching the police through the eyes of the protesters.
It’s a shift from seeing the police primarily as sources and protectors to seeing them as subjects and aggressors.
Exhibit A is the lead story in the New York Times print edition on Monday morning, which, instead of dutifully reporting on the official version of clashes around the nation, boldly addressed the reality that police around the country have been responding to protests against their aggression with yet more of the same, and have themselves been inciting more violence.
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The authors also wrote that shows of force by highly-militarized police weren’t bringing calm. “Instead, some people said, it was escalating tensions and serving as a reminder of the regular use of military equipment and tactics by local police forces.”
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This sentence struck me as both incredibly naïve and – at the same time – nothing short of revolutionary:Now, some are questioning whether tough police tactics against demonstrators are actually making the violence worse rather than quelling it.
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Slate collected a number of social media clips and very effectively aggregated them under the headline: “Police Erupt in Violence Nationwide.”
So, it’s clear how you get journalists to start reporting, and stop cultivating sources: You just need to make sure that someone beats the crap out of them.
It’s a hell of a state of affairs.