Articles Feature

Police Settle With 4 Reporters on Ferguson

by richard01861

St. Louis County Pledges Unspecified Reforms

Freddie Gray Case Presented in ‘Augmented Reality’

What the West Point Cadets’ Photo Is Really About

Somali-American Reporter Blocked at Checkpoint

‘Race and Punishment on Texas’ Death Row’

NPR Introduces ‘Code Switch’ Podcast

RTDNF Creates Lee Thornton J-Scholarship

More Reporters Urge Fact-Checking Trump

Western Press, North Korea Like Oil and Water

Short Takes

Members of the St. Louis County Police tactical team take a pair of journalists into custody on Aug. 19, 2014. journalists Lukas Hermsmeier (left), a reporter for Bild, a German newspaper, and Ryan Devereaux, a reporter for theintercept.com, were in the area when police arrived. (Credit: David Carson/St. Louis Post-Dispatch)
Members of the St. Louis County Police tactical team take two journalists into custody on Aug. 19, 2014.  Lukas Hermsmeier, left, a reporter for Bild, a German newspaper, and Ryan Devereaux, a reporter for theintercept.com, were in the area when police arrived. (Credit: David Carson/St. Louis Post-Dispatch)

St. Louis County Pledges Unspecified Reforms

“Four journalists who alleged abuse during the 2014 Ferguson protests have reached a confidential settlement with the St. Louis County police, lawyers said Wednesday,” Robert Patrick reported for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

“The department agreed to ‘adopt policy changes that will address the issues raised this lawsuit,’ lawyers for both sides said in a joint statement about their agreement.

“It says, in part, ‘The County and the Department recognize that Plaintiffs, in bringing this lawsuit, have sought reform that would benefit both the police department and the citizens that they serve.’

“Under Missouri law, public bodies can make confidential settlements but must yield to open records laws.

“The county police did not respond to a request to produce the settlement, referring it to lawyers.

“The journalists are Ryan Devereaux of Intercept/First Look Media; Ansgar Graw, senior U.S. political correspondent for Die Welt and Welt am Sonntag; Frank Herrmann, the U.S. correspondent for a group of German regional papers; and freelancer Lukas Hermsmeier.

“Their suit, filed in federal court in St. Louis in March 2015, claimed they were falsely arrested, held without probable cause and subjected to false imprisonment and battery. . . .”

On Aug. 20, 2014, Devereaux explained what happened to Amy Goodman of “Democracy Now!” as she reported from Ferguson:

“On Monday night, I was reporting in the same area. Most of the media had been cleared out by the police due to what they deemed a, quote, ‘public security threat.’ They had said to journalists something about shots being fired in the area, but they didn’t offer any details. Most media in the area cleared out. I was with German journalist Lukas Hermsmeier, and we were returning a reporter for the National Post to his car. He had been separated from his car in the area.

“And we were in the neighborhood where clashes have happened throughout the last week and a half and dropped off the reporter.

“As we were trying to find a way to this command center — actually, where we are right now — where the police had directed media to go, I heard over a loudspeaker an announcement: ‘This is your final warning.’ Some number of protesters had returned to the scene despite the media being cleared. I immediately pulled the car over and parked. You know, having heard that this is your last warning, my first instinct was to check out what was going to happen.

“I found about two dozen protesters on one side of Florissant Avenue. They had a megaphone. They were taunting the police. A garbage can was set on fire. Some street posts were removed from the ground. On the other side of the street, a separate group of protesters were sort of decrying what the first group was doing, saying, ‘This is not helping issues.’

“I crossed the street to interview a young woman who was quite vocal on that side. And as I was beginning to ask her questions, police began firing tear gas canisters in our direction. We moved into a parallel — onto a parallel street in a residential neighborhood. I would continue to speak with this woman. Then the police began coming up the road in armored vehicles, firing more and more tear gas canisters, and also, it appears, shooting rubber bullets out of their vehicle —rubber bullets or bean bag rounds, nonlethal projectiles, as they call them.

“I actually ran into the young woman that I was interviewing that night last night, and she showed me a wound on her leg that she said was from being shot that night as we were trying to get away. This young woman and her friends piled into a car. They took off.

“The German reporter and I were still stuck on the ground, and we were basically separated from our vehicle by a road that was quickly becoming entirely engulfed in tear gas and police who were screening up and down the street in armored vehicles, shooting tear gas canisters and rubber bullets. I saw the police
on at least one occasion drive into the residential neighborhood, seeming to be seeking out anyone who was still around, shooting tear gas canisters at them, other nonlethal projectiles at them. We took cover behind a tree for a period of time, trying to ensure that we weren’t going to be hit in the head or body with any of these projectiles.

“At one point, we decided that the safest option for us was to walk north on this residential street parallel to the main thoroughfare, Florissant Avenue, and try to get past the cloud, cross the street and back over to our car. We could see through the gaps in the houses, as we were walking, armored police vehicles racing back and forth, up and down the street. At one point, one of those police vehicles turned a left towards us, and it was clear, given the high-powered lights that they have, that they would see us. And we felt that our best option was to immediately identify ourselves as journalists in hopes that they wouldn’t shoot at us.

“We put our hands in the air, yelling, ‘Press! Press! Press! We’re journalists! We’re journalists! We’re journalists!’

“A police officer on top of an armored vehicle turned his light on us, saw us. There was a pause. He beckoned us to come in his direction. We continued doing so, coming in his direction with our hands up, continuing to yell that we were press. We took a right at the corner where this armored vehicle was parked and continued towards West Florissant Avenue, towards another armored vehicle, where several heavily armed police officers had their rifles trained on us. We were walking towards those officers, moving halfway to three-quarters of the way up this block, when the police officers behind us in the armored vehicle, who had beckoned us over, began opening fire on us with nonlethal projectiles. And I was hit in the back, and the German reporter was hit twice, as well.

“At this point, we realized that the police were willing to shoot at us, and we had several similarly armed officers with their guns trained on us directly in front of us and every reason to believe that those officers at any moment would open fire. The fear was that some of them might not be using nonlethal rounds.

“So we dove behind a car to take cover. And the police basically surrounded us, pulled us out of there, zip-tied our hands behind our backs, threw us in the back of their armored vehicle, drove us to this command center, where we were informed that we were being arrested, that we would be taken to the county jail, unclear as to why or for what charges.

“We repeatedly identified ourselves as journalists. They asked us why we were out. I told them, the same reason that they were out, that we had a job to do, that as journalists it’s our job to be out here. They took us to the jail, and we were held for approximately 18 — or, I’m sorry, eight hours. The closest we got to an explanation for our detention was they told us we were being charged with refusal to disperse. I was released yesterday morning, and I’m continuing to report. . . .”

In the Washington Post's "augmented reality" experience, "Users can click through eight narrated scenes based on evidence presented at the first officer's trial and information from witnesses."
In the Washington Post’s “augmented reality” experience, “Users can click through eight narrated scenes based on evidence presented at the first officer’s trial and information from witnesses.”

Freddie Gray Case Presented in ‘Augmented Reality’

“The Washington Post published its first augmented reality initiative yesterday (10 May) to explain through visual elements the events that lead to Freddie Gray’s arrest and death in Baltimore last year,” Mădălina Ciobanu reported Tuesday for journalism.co.uk.

“The launch of this new format, available through the ARc app oniOS and Android, comes as the second of the six police officers involved in the case is set to go trial this week. . . .”

Sixteen African American female cadets at West Point’s elite military academy. reportedly took dozens of photos to celebrate their graduation, but the one featuring clenched fists, posted to social media several weeks ago, received the most attention. (Credit: Twitter)
Sixteen African American female cadets at  the United States Military Academy at West Point reportedly took dozens of photos to celebrate their graduation, but the one featuring clenched fists, posted to social media several weeks ago, received the most attention. (Credit: Twitter)

What the West Point Cadets’ Photo Is Really About

“I had only recently started my job as a newspaper columnist when a woman called my editor to complain,” Issac Bailey wrote Monday for CNN.

“We knew there’d be pushback: I was a young black guy delving into treacherous waters, writing about race relations in the South for a mostly conservative white audience — and was replacing a retired, beloved older white man who was known for his lighthearted take on issues of the day. I was football to his golf. I was surprised, not by the complaint, but by the nature of it.

” ‘He’s flashing a gang sign,’ the woman told my editor, in reference to a photo of me paired with my columns.

“In the photo, I was wearing a pair of slightly nerdy, thin-framed rounded glasses, resting my chin in my left hand. I didn’t smile, trying to look contemplative.

“Maybe she thought I was a member of the Bloods because the sweater I wore was red? Or maybe it was because she had never encountered someone like me in a columnist photo, and it was easier to fall back into the comfort of the unexamined stereotypes making their way through her brain.

“I suspect that’s at the heart of complaints over a photo recently posted online of 16 African-American women, graduating cadets at West Point. Each of the women, in one of the academy’s time-honored traditions, is dressed in her ceremonial uniform, posed on the steps of historic Nininger Hall.

“The controversy? Each has a raised fist.

“I look at the photo and see a group of young people celebrating an enormous accomplishment in solidarity with each other. It’s a big deal to make it through the nation’s premier military academy, particularly when there are so few people like you to share the journey. Other people though saw the photo and imagined they were pledging allegiance to cop killers. . . .”

Tony Lombardo reported Tuesday for Army Times, “The 16 black female cadets who posed for a photo with their fists raised and sparked a nationwide debate will face no punitive action, West Point officials announced Tuesday. The women will, however, receive additional counseling prior to graduating this month. . . .”

In addition, Tommy Christopher of Mediaite reported, “At Wednesday’s White House daily briefing, American Urban Radio Network’s April Ryan asked Press Secretary Josh Earnest if President Obama had seen the photo, the third consecutive day he has been asked this, and whether the President had any reaction to the controversy or the conclusion. Earnest’s response elicited visible frustration from Ryan,” although Ryan told Journal-isms that she did not, as Mediaite reported, give Earnest “side-eye.”

Somali-American Reporter Blocked at Checkpoint

“A few minutes after 8 o’clock Monday morning, Mukhtar Ibrahim started filing through the security line at the federal courthouse in Minneapolis,” Mike Mullen reported Tuesday for City Pages in Minneapolis.

Mukhtar Ibrahim
Mukhtar Ibrahim

“It was a big day for Ibrahim, and figured to be a long one: day one of a high-profile trial for three local men accused of plotting to join ISIS fighters in Syria.

“Ibrahim and a reporter for the Star Tribune approached the security screening and offered their bags for clearance by a security officer. The other reporter, who is white, passed right through and headed for the elevator. Ibrahim was stopped, and told he couldn’t go in yet. He would have to wait for the time when the court opened to the public.

“Ibrahim protested, pulling out a press badge showing he works for Minnesota Public Radio. Not good enough, the officer said. Go wait with the rest of the public.

“Ibrahim didn’t argue and instead just collected his wallet, keys, and bag, and went to wait with public spectators. The way Ibrahim figures, he shouldn’t have even needed to flash the badge. He’s been covering cases there for a year and a half: These guys should recognize him by now.

” ‘They know who I am, they see me every day,’ Ibrahim said. ‘I’m not a stranger coming to cover this case from the East Coast. I’ve been covering this case since day one. They know I’m a reporter.’

“It’s not the first time Ibrahim has experienced different treatment from courthouse security. . . .”

Aaron Rupar added Tuesday for ThinkProgress, “A security official with the U.S. Courthouse in Minneapolis didn’t immediately respond to a message asking why Ibrahim was held up. Security guards did not give a reason at the time why they had to detain the reporter, and it’s not entirely clear if it was because of his background.

“Ibrahim, a Bush Foundation fellowship winner who was born [in] Somalia and came to the United States with his family in 2005, didn’t want to speculate as to whether he was a victim of profiling. . . .

‘Race and Punishment on Texas’ Death Row’

“Two men  one white, one Latino — were charged with killing a woman in a Dallas suburb in 1998. The white defendant pled guilty, served 17 years in prison, and got out on parole a few weeks ago,” Fusion wrote over a story Tuesday by Casey Tolan headlined, “Meth, hypnosis, and murder: An incredible true story of race and punishment on Texas’ death row.”

“The Latino defendant claimed he was innocent and was sentenced to death. He will be executed next month.”

Tolan wrote, “Nationwide, minority defendants who are charged with murdering white victims are far more likely to be sentenced to death than white defendants charged with murdering minority victims. In Texas, 178 of the 246 people currently on death row are black or Latino. It’s racial disparities like these that are leading many activists and legal experts to predict increased scrutiny of the death penalty by the Supreme Court in coming years. . . .”

NPR's "Code Switch" podcast team
NPR’s “Code Switch” podcast team (Credit: Matt Roth for NPR)

NPR Introduces ‘Code Switch’ Podcast

“NPR’s award-winning Code Switch team will launch a podcast this month exploring how race and culture collide with everything else in people’s lives,” the network announced on Tuesday. “With a rotating cast of Code Switch reporters, editors and guest contributors, the podcast will invite listeners to re-examine their perspectives about race and identity in ways that might inspire, entertain and challenge them. . . .”

“The podcast will be hosted by NPR’s Gene Demby (@GeeDee215) and Shereen Marisol Meraji (@RadioMirage), who each have a broad base of experience on air and online, and will draw on the talents of the Code Switch writers and radio reporters. . . .”

RTDNF Creates Lee Thornton J-Scholarship

The Radio Television Digital News Foundation announced Wednesday that it had created a Lee Thornton Journalism Scholarship. “Thornton’s estate has pledged $50,000 to endow a scholarship in her name,” the foundation said.

“Lee Thornton was the first African-American woman to cover the White House for a major news network (CBS) and the first African-American host of All Things Considered on National Public Radio. Later in her career, she taught at the University of Maryland’s Philip Merrill College of Journalism and served a year as the school’s interim dean. She held a master’s degree from Michigan State University and a doctorate in mass communications from Northwestern University. . . .”

Thornton died in 2013 at age 71.

dont-trump-hed-2016This billboard ad comes from the London ad agency AML for an internal creative award. “And like ghost ads often do, the concept escaped: An agency staffer in Singapore got hold of it, and shared it with followers. In the weekend that followed, it quickly spread from Asia to the U.S., making it the most widely shared story on The Poke and enjoying 36,000 shares on Facebook alone,” Angela Natividad reported for adweek.com.

More Reporters Urge Fact-Checking Trump

“Veteran campaign reporters are calling on media outlets to sharply increase their fact-checking of presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump, telling Media Matters ‘the stakes are too high’ to let Trump get away with peddling conspiracy theories and near-constant falsehoods,” Joe Strupp reported Wednesday for Media Matters for America.

“In the week since Trump’s win in the Indiana presidential primary essentially clinched the nomination for him, the candidate has faced criticism from media critics and fact-checkers for his continued embrace of outlandish conspiracy theories. CNN’s Brian Stelter on Sunday called on journalists to confront Trump ‘head-on’ over his misinformation. Washington Post fact checker Glenn Kessler hit a similar note in a May 7 article, writing that outlets have ‘no excuse’ to let Trump get away with falsehoods.

“In conversations with Media Matters, Kessler and several veteran presidential campaign reporters highlighted the sheer tonnage of misinformation from Trump, with several arguing that outlets need to be more aggressive when challenging the Republican.

“ ‘The Trump lies are so many and they come out at such a rapid fire, Gatling-gun fashion, it is hard for the reporters to keep up in May. I can just imagine what it will be like in October,’ said Walter Shapiro, who covered nine presidential campaigns dating back to 1980 for The Washington Post, Newsweek, Salon and
others. . . .”

The comments seem premised on the notion that Trump supporters are concerned with whether Trump has his facts right.

Western Press, North Korea Like Oil and Water

“The late North Korean leader Kim Jong-il professed such ‘boundless love’ for his country’s reporters that the state press published a book in 1983 that called him, in its title, ‘The Great Teacher of Journalists,’ ” Barbara Demick reported Tuesday for the New Yorker.

“Kim took care that journalists had hot breakfasts before they started work, and umbrellas to keep them dry when they went out reporting in the rain, the book explained, and in return they ‘must become propagandists who spread far and wide the voice of our party.’

“However, when North Korea meets the foreign press, it turns out, more often than not, that they don’t like each other very much. The mutual antipathy was on display on Monday, when North Korea detained a BBC correspondent, Rupert Wingfield-Hayes, for eight hours. He was then made to sign an apology, and was expelled from the country.

“The secretary-general of North Korea’s National Peace Committee, O Ryong-il, held a press conference, where he accused Wingfield-Hayes of being disrespectful and speaking ‘ill of the system and the leadership of the country.’

“Wingfield-Hayes and his crew, who had been following a delegation of Nobel laureates touring the country in advance of its first Workers’ Party Congress in decades, had made the critical error of reporting what they actually saw. During a visit to the Pyongyang Children’s Hospital, the BBC correspondent quoted a delegate observing that that the purported patients look like perfectly healthy children and that the adults present were not doctors. ‘Everything we see looks like a setup,’ Wingfield-Hayes concluded on camera.

“Broadcast footage also included quarrels with the journalists’ North Korean minders, who objected on camera to a piece that the correspondent did in front of a statue of Kim Jong-il, North Korea’s previous dictator. . . . ‘The level of control and nervousness we’ve experienced betrays the weakness and insecurity that lies beneath,’ Wingfield-Hayes said.

“The minders also didn’t like Wingfield-Hayes’s observations about the current leader, Kim Jong-un. ‘What exactly he’s done to deserve the title marshal is hard to say,’ he said in one report. ‘On state TV the young ruler seems to spend a lot of time sitting in a large chair watching artillery firing at mountainsides.’ Perhaps the biggest slap was that he referred to young Kim as ‘corpulent.’ . . .”

Short Takes

 

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