Autopsy Indicates Michael Brown Reached for Cop’s Gun
Poynter to Host African Journalists University Turned Away
NAHJ Says Free Regional Conferences Worth It In the Long Run
“A Limited View of Boys From the Bronx”
Autopsy Indicates Michael Brown Reached for Cop’s Gun
“The official autopsy on Michael Brown shows that he was shot in the hand at close range, according to an analysis of the findings by two experts not involved directly in the case,” Christine Byers and Blythe Bernhard reported Wednesday for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
“The accompanying toxicology report shows he had been using marijuana.
“Those documents, prepared by the St. Louis County medical examiner and obtained by the Post-Dispatch, provide the most detailed description to date of the wounds Brown sustained in a confrontation Aug. 9 with Ferguson police Officer Darren Wilson.
“A source with knowledge of Wilson’s statements said the officer had told investigators that Brown had struggled for Wilson’s pistol inside a police SUV and that Wilson had fired the gun twice, hitting Brown once in the hand. Later, Wilson fired additional shots that killed Brown and ignited a national controversy.
“The St. Louis medical examiner, Dr. Michael Graham, who is not part of the official investigation, reviewed the autopsy report for the newspaper. He said Tuesday that it ‘does support that there was a significant altercation at the car.’
“Graham said the examination indicated a shot traveled from the tip of Brown’s right thumb toward his wrist. The official report notes an absence of stippling, powder burns around a wound that indicate a shot fired at relatively short range.
“But Graham said, ‘Sometimes when it’s really close, such as within an inch or so, there is no stipple, just smoke.’
“The report on a supplemental microscopic exam of tissue from the thumb wound showed foreign matter ‘consistent with products that are discharged from the barrel of a firearm.’
“Dr. Judy Melinek, a forensic pathologist in San Francisco, said the autopsy ‘supports the fact that this guy is reaching for the gun, if he has gunpowder particulate material in the wound.’ She added, ‘If he has his hand near the gun when it goes off, he’s going for the officer’s gun.’
“Sources told the Post-Dispatch that Brown’s blood had been found on Wilson’s gun.
“Melinek also said the autopsy did not support witnesses who have claimed Brown was shot while running away from Wilson, or with his hands up. . . .”
- Andrew Kirell, mediaite.com: ‘Fake Journalists!’: Ferguson Protestors Shout Down CNN Live Broadcast
- ProPublica, News Analysis, AC Thompson, What to Look For In Dueling Autopsies of Michael Brown (Aug. 5)
Poynter to Host African Journalists University Turned Away
“The Poynter Institute will host a group of Edward R. Murrow journalists from African countries whose visit to the University of South Florida at St. Petersburg was canceled because of concerns about spread of the Ebola virus, Poynter president Tim Franklin announced today,” Benjamin Mullin reported Tuesday for the Poynter Institute.
“In an impromptu meeting, Franklin told Poynter staff that the decision to host the journalists — who are not from Ebola-affected countries — is rooted in the best traditions of the institute.
NAHJ Says Free Regional Conferences Worth It In the Long Run
After a successful regional conference in Mexico City over the weekend, Mekahlo Medina, president of the National Association of Hispanic Journalists, announced that henceforth, members could attend regional conferences without charge. Former board member Manuel De La Rosa objected in a message to Journal-isms.
Regional conferences were supposed to be “a way to get more revenue into NAHJ, but if members aren’t paying…how are those events going to make money,” De La Rosa asked. “We also at NAHJ in the past had discussed going away from a national conference due to the lack of attendees or hosting conferences with other groups that limits the amount of money we can make. The recommendations were to go to four super regional conferences. I would imagine they are doing this….they must believe in the national conferences again. I understand the they say it’s part of our benefits, but having a conference for free means you value it at $0.
“Nothing should be free, especially a conference. A lot of hard work is put into those events and it’s worth something. This NAHJ administration is going to drive the group into big problem financially with this type of decision making. We worked hard as a NAHJ Board to get us out of the red, but these last two administrations are doing everything to put us back there. It’s disappointing.”
Asked to comment, Medina messaged Journal-isms:
“NAHJ looked at a four things before making the decision to offer regionals free to members.
“First, we looked at the what we wanted to achieve with regionals: to provide training and development for more members.
“Second, we looked at the profit of the last four regionals and conducted a profit projection for future regionals. We concluded regionals brought less than .8% of yearly budget.
“Third, we looked at the time and effort on the national office on preparing and executing regionals.
“Fourth, we tested it out at our last regional in Mexico City. We had a record registration of nearly 400 attendees.
“In the end, we concluded Regionals, which are sponsored, should be first and foremost a benefit of membership to NAHJ. We are [focusing] regionals to be stronger training and development opportunities for members.
“As a result, we are using regionals to attract new members as well.
“Growing our membership will help us better attract sponsorship and that will cancel out or [supersede] any minor monetary gain we achieved with charging for regionals.
“Bottom-line, Regionals are part of what you get for being a member of NAHJ. We are committed to your growth and development as a journalist. Regionals gives us an opportunity to provide that training and attract new members in the process.”
“A Limited View of Boys From the Bronx”
“In 1936, Aaron Siskind, a founding member of the Photo League, brought together a group of young photographers to survey New York’s neighborhoods, Maurice Berger wrote Wednesday for the New York Times “Lens” blog.
“The ‘Harlem Document’ would become their most famous study. Its principal objectives were to produce evidence of a neighborhood in peril — from substandard housing to inadequate health care — and to promote reform. One of the document’s most important artifacts, a photo essay published in Look magazine in May 1940, offers insights into the way the largely white documentary team represented the African-American community from the outside.
“The article’s view of Harlem was unremittingly grim. It stressed the community’s misfortune while ignoring its rich history, cultural life and the many residents who endured, and even flourished, in spite of hardships. . . .”
Berger also wrote, “Seventy-four years later, a new book by the photographer Stephen Shames titled ‘Bronx Boys’ (University of Texas Press) rekindles questions about the responsibilities inherent in documenting a community.
“ ‘Bronx Boys’ chronicles a group of young men coming of age in an environment besieged by poverty, drugs and gang warfare. It focuses on a subculture of ‘crews,’ informal associations of mostly adolescent men teamed together for protection and companionship.
“Mr. Shames began the project in 1977 photographing the Fordham Bedford and Bathgate sections of the Bronx while on assignment for Look magazine. Mr. Shames frequently returned to the area over the next 22 years and continued to photograph the men. . . .”
Short Takes
“This breakup is for the best,” Ruben Navarrette Jr. wrote Tuesday for the Washington Post Writers Group, on the rift between CNN and the National Association of Black Journalists. “CNN should not support the NABJ’s convention. It should also not give a dime to the other organizations that claim to represent journalists of color. These groups should never have accepted money from media companies to begin with, since it compromised their ability to be industry watchdogs. . . .”
“CBS News 24-hour digital news channel will be called CBSN, Capital has learned, and the network is preparing to launch a marketing campaign around it, a source told Capital, featuring the tagline ‘CBS News. Always On,’ Alex Weprin reported Wednesday for capitalnewyork.com. Weprin also wrote, “The channel, which will stream live to TV sets, P.C.s and mobile devices, mimics the look of cable news channels, but in a less formal newsroom setting. CBS News correspondents Jeff Glor and Elaine Quijano are among the anchors for the service, which will also feature original reporting from all of CBS’ reporters. . . .”
Follow Richard Prince on Twitter @princeeditor
Facebook users: “Like” “Richard Prince’s Journal-isms” on Facebook.
