Deviating a bit from recent town hall meetings delving into events in Ferguson, Wednesday’s panel discussion focused on the media.
Moderated by National Association of Black Journalists president Bob Butler, the panel examined how journalists disseminated information about the Aug. 9 shooting and community response.
At @GSLABJ Grading the News: Media Coverage of Ferguson #Fergusonmedia Town Hall @GSLABJ w @NABJ president pic.twitter.com/gzo9hwfBSS
— Terrell (@AnderTerrell) September 17, 2014
Panelists included Mariah Stewart, fellow at the Huffington Post; Christopher Ave, national and political editor at the St. Louis Post-Dispatch; Bill Freivogel, publisher of the Gateway Journalism Review; Bradley Rayford, freelance photographer; Patricia Bynes, Democratic committeewoman for Ferguson Township; and Brittany Noble-Jones, reporter at KMOV (Channel 4).
Did the media get it right?
Did the media get it right? Did the best it could in the situation, @MzzzMariah says. #Fergusonmedia
— Erica Smith (@ericasmith) September 17, 2014
Ave points out hard to grade ongoing coverage if web of issues in/around #Ferguson #Fergusonmedia
— Beth O'Malley (@PDBeth) September 17, 2014
Did the media get it right? Most in #stl say no, @bfreivogel says. #FergusonMedia
— Erica Smith (@ericasmith) September 17, 2014
Some citizen journalists did a good job, @bfreivogel says, citing @Patricialicious and @AntonioFrench. #Fergusonmedia
— Erica Smith (@ericasmith) September 17, 2014
"parachute journalism" glad Bill Frivogel said this. many mainstream media did a flyover – not real stories. #FergusonMedia
— Tayé Foster Bradshaw (@lattegriot) September 17, 2014
#Ferguson is raising questions about race that St. Louis has avoided for decades. #Fergusonmedia #stl
— David Sheets (@DKSheets) September 17, 2014
Did the media get it right? It bothered @BradleyRayford that the media became the story. #Fergusonmedia
— Erica Smith (@ericasmith) September 17, 2014
It was hard to please everyone with the story via @BradleyRayford #Fergusonmedia
— Aja Williams (@ajawilliams09) September 17, 2014
#Ferguson events unfolded fast, hard to keep up and to cover all views. #Fergusonmedia #STL
— David Sheets (@DKSheets) September 17, 2014
Noble-Jones says media so broad, hard to judge. #FergusonMedia
— Beth O'Malley (@PDBeth) September 17, 2014
"To me it's cute to see you guys be so hard on yourselves," @Patricialicious says. #FergusonMedia
— Erica Smith (@ericasmith) September 17, 2014
National media needed to do its homework before moving in, @Patricialicious says. You could tell who did their homework. #Fergusonmedia
— Erica Smith (@ericasmith) September 17, 2014
.@Patricialicious: part of story is violation if first amendment rights. Imagine what dng to ppl who live here? #FergusonMedia
— Beth O'Malley (@PDBeth) September 17, 2014
"What has come out of it is this real eye-opening experience," @Patricialicious says. #FergusonMedia
— Erica Smith (@ericasmith) September 17, 2014
"All of #STL dirty laundry came out." @Patricialicious #Fergusonmedia
— Aja Williams (@ajawilliams09) September 17, 2014
Arrest of reporters helped drive media understanding of cop harassment, ticketing, muni courts, etc. @Patricialicious #FergusonMedia
— Beth O'Malley (@PDBeth) September 17, 2014
Moderator: cops that bad? @Patricialicious: not a surprise media arrested. #fergusonmedia
— Beth O'Malley (@PDBeth) September 17, 2014
Sometimes reporters seemed happy to make themselves part of the story, @bfreivogel says. Cites McDonald's arrests. #Fergusonmedia
— Erica Smith (@ericasmith) September 17, 2014
Some people did perform for the media in #Ferguson, P-D's Ave tells #FergusonMedia
— Margie Freivogel (@mwfreivogel) September 17, 2014
Who drove the story, national or local media?
Who drove story, local or national media? Local at first, @Patricialicious says. Social media brought national media in. #Fergusonmedia
— Erica Smith (@ericasmith) September 17, 2014
@Patricialicious: What got national media’s attention about #Ferguson was social media. #FergusonMedia #stl
— David Sheets (@DKSheets) September 17, 2014
Photo of #michaelbrown and his stepfather were widely shared on social media. #FergusonMedia
— Erica Smith (@ericasmith) September 17, 2014
Social media was first to report. My first knowledge was Mike Brown's stepdad holding a sign. #FergusonMedia
— Tayé Foster Bradshaw (@lattegriot) September 17, 2014
Number of people capturing these moments with cameras while we were sleeping helped with coverage, @BrittanyNoble #FergusonMedia
— Beth O'Malley (@PDBeth) September 17, 2014
Huge pressure for journalists of every platform. The deadline is always now, @ChristopherAve says. #Fergusonmedia
— Erica Smith (@ericasmith) September 17, 2014
The urgency of now. Panelist @ChristopherAve talking about how if you got your news from social media alone; you got it wrong #fergusonmedia
— Shantel Middleton (@TheShantelM) September 17, 2014
Many initial social media reports were "dead wrong," @ChristopherAve says. Journalists verify, they don't spread rumors. #FergusonMedia
— Erica Smith (@ericasmith) September 17, 2014
Social media, and Anonymous, spread false information media were able to prove wrong. Some things were correct. #fergusonmedia
— Beth O'Malley (@PDBeth) September 17, 2014
Freivogel: Good rule for journalists to stick with what they can verify, not rely on 2nd-, 3rd-hand info. #FergusonMedia #stl @spj_tweets
— David Sheets (@DKSheets) September 18, 2014
What is journalism? Who is a journalist?
Panel: “Citizen journalism” is infused with more emotion than sense at times. #FergusonMedia #stl
— David Sheets (@DKSheets) September 17, 2014
.@BradleyRayford Real journalist: tell the real story. Freovogel: can't be snobs toward citizen journos #FergusonMedia
— Beth O'Malley (@PDBeth) September 17, 2014
@BradleyRayford : you are a journalist when you want to tell the real story, from perspective other than your own.
#FergusonMedia @GSLABJ
— Linda Lockhart (@LLockhart92) September 17, 2014
#citizenjournalism comes up again; panelists say cjs don't desire to tell real story as traditional journalists do #fergusonmedia I disagree
— Shantel Middleton (@TheShantelM) September 17, 2014
Freivogel: But we can’t dismiss all citizen journalism as ineffective, inaccurate. Curation needed to sift facts. #FergusonMedia #stl
— David Sheets (@DKSheets) September 17, 2014
To get the whole picture, we needed eyewitness accounts, @bfreivogel says. #fergusonmedia
— Erica Smith (@ericasmith) September 17, 2014
@Patricialicious says citizen journalists can sometimes put out things journalists are reluctant to report. #FergusonMedia
— Margie Freivogel (@mwfreivogel) September 17, 2014
Quoting the police
Q: P-D used cop sources who passed along bad info on tear gas, wen responses happened. Why? #fergusonmedia
— Beth O'Malley (@PDBeth) September 17, 2014
Why source the police? You need to ask them what they did, but you don't have to believe it. Verify, @ChristopherAve says. #FergusonMedia
— Erica Smith (@ericasmith) September 17, 2014
@ChristopherAve: Journalists have to go beyond the official accounts, do their best in the time they have. #FergusonMedia #stl
— David Sheets (@DKSheets) September 17, 2014
"Journalism is the first rough draft of history. That's exactly right," @ChristopherAve says. #fergusonmedia
— Erica Smith (@ericasmith) September 17, 2014
.@BrittanyNoble: viewers need to remember they have a voice. Provide feedback. #fergusonmedia
— Beth O'Malley (@PDBeth) September 17, 2014
Why has Michael Brown been a flashpoint?
Why has #MichaelBrown been the flashpoint? @Sifill_LDF had a good answer to that earlier today. #FergusonMedia
— Erica Smith (@ericasmith) September 17, 2014
.@Sifill_LDF said it's because we've tolerated similar events, and accepted them. This was a tipping point. #fergusonmedia
— Erica Smith (@ericasmith) September 17, 2014
Freivogel: Combo of factors, not just one, drove #Ferguson and #MikeBrown into the media spotlight. #FergusonMedia #STL
— David Sheets (@DKSheets) September 17, 2014
#stl has always had hostility between police and residents, @MzzzMariah says. #FergusonMedia
— Erica Smith (@ericasmith) September 17, 2014
The reaction that #STL had is what drove #Ferguson over the top. #FergusonMedia #stl
— David Sheets (@DKSheets) September 17, 2014
@Patricialicious: We have to address the lack of diversity in media. Compounds #Ferguson problems. #FergusonMedia #stl
— David Sheets (@DKSheets) September 17, 2014
.@Patricialicious: lack of minority in media. Black media had stories about excessive force, police brutality. #FergusonMedia
— Beth O'Malley (@PDBeth) September 17, 2014
.@BradleyRayford: if black community wants it's voices in media, more need to join/apply #fergusonmedia
— Beth O'Malley (@PDBeth) September 17, 2014
The news managers in STL – so they are all white, that means we need more in the executive ranks? In StL hmmmmm @NABJ #FergusonMedia
— Tayé Foster Bradshaw (@lattegriot) September 17, 2014
Minorities apply for jobs in media; they aren't always hired. @bobbutler7 says only 12% of news management are minorities #fergusonmedia
— Shantel Middleton (@TheShantelM) September 17, 2014
Darren Wilson coverage
Is there enough of #DarrenWilson's story (out there) for there to be full and balanced coverage?" #FergusonMedia
— Wendy Todd (@_WendyTodd) September 18, 2014
Appropriate to put officer's address, house on the air? #FergsonMedia
— Beth O'Malley (@PDBeth) September 17, 2014
Both Bill Freivogel & Bradley Rayford have said it was wrong to give the address of #DarrenWilson following the situation #FergusonMedia
— The STL Suite (@theSTLsuite) September 17, 2014
No relevance in showing the ferguson officer's house. How does it advance the story in anyway? @GSLABJ #FergusonMedia
— Sean Hadley (@gseanh) September 17, 2014
Justice means "you do what's just," @BradleyRayford says. #FergusonMedia
— Erica Smith (@ericasmith) September 17, 2014
@Patricialicious "I knew the name of the officer before it was released…I would not confirm for the media." #FergsonMedia
— GSLABJ (@GSLABJ) September 18, 2014
Media in a tough spot trying to separate #Ferguson fact from rumor. Half their effort went to putting out fires. #FergusonMedia #stl
— David Sheets (@DKSheets) September 17, 2014
@Patricialicious, Freivogel say officer’s name should have come out sooner. #FergusonMedia #stl
— David Sheets (@DKSheets) September 18, 2014
@ChristopherAve Almost everyone in @stltoday newsroom has now been involved in #Ferguson coverage. #FergusonMedia #stl
— David Sheets (@DKSheets) September 18, 2014
#fergusonmedia @ChristopherAve talking about how information on #DarrenWilson disappeared from the internet after pd released his name
— Shantel Middleton (@TheShantelM) September 18, 2014
Michael Brown’s juvenile records
@ChristopherAve is speaking on the reasons why @stltoday requested the juvenile record of #MikeBrown I have so many questions #FergusonMedia
— The STL Suite (@theSTLsuite) September 18, 2014
@ChristopherAve We’re not sure #MikeBrown even had a real crime record. Still digging. #FergusonMedia #stl
— David Sheets (@DKSheets) September 18, 2014
.@ChristopherAve: efforts to cover #Ferguson are ongoing #FergusonMedia
— Beth O'Malley (@PDBeth) September 18, 2014
.@Patricialicious Going for juvie record came off as if trying to dig up dirt. It did not sit well, it came off really bad. #FergusonMedia
— Beth O'Malley (@PDBeth) September 18, 2014
@Patricialicious says Darren Wilson's record was cleaned, yet #MichaelBrown 's family didn't have opportunity to do so. #FergusonMedia
— Cocoa Popps (@CocoaPopps) September 18, 2014
P-D takes some heat here for seeking Brown's juvenile record. #FergusonMedia
— Margie Freivogel (@mwfreivogel) September 18, 2014
.@ChristopherAve addressing question about Brown's juvenile record. "What we do is try to find out the truth." #FergsonMedia
— Beth O'Malley (@PDBeth) September 18, 2014
Ave: won't try to talk you out of frustration about juvie records. But don't let govt keep stuff secret. #FergsonMedia
— Beth O'Malley (@PDBeth) September 18, 2014
@ChristopherAve says he understands criticism of P-D but we should be wary of keeping info secret. #FergusonMedia
— Margie Freivogel (@mwfreivogel) September 18, 2014
"The natural inclination of government is to keep stuff secret" says @ChristopherAve on not answering questions posed by #FergsonMedia
— Sadiyyah Rice (@Dia_Rice) September 18, 2014
"If we start deciding what kind of information the public should see … Be careful," @ChristopherAve says. #FergusonMedia
— Erica Smith (@ericasmith) September 18, 2014
"What we try to do is get the information out," @ChristopherAve says. #FergusonMedia
— Erica Smith (@ericasmith) September 18, 2014
Why strong-armed robbery vs. robbery? Strong-armed means a weapon wasn't used, @ChristopherAve says. #fergusonmedia
— Erica Smith (@ericasmith) September 18, 2014
.@Patricialicious: robbery had nothing to do with why he was shot. Release was extremely irresponsible. #FergusonMedia
— Beth O'Malley (@PDBeth) September 18, 2014
No indication that police recording was made of #MichaelBrown altercation/shooting. #FergusonMedia
— Cocoa Popps (@CocoaPopps) September 18, 2014
Rebuilding trust
Public/media trust: "We've got a long way to go," @bfreivogel says. #Fergusonmedia
— Erica Smith (@ericasmith) September 18, 2014
People rely on the media to be the voice, but the people have voices too, @BradleyRayford says. #FergusonMedia
— Erica Smith (@ericasmith) September 18, 2014
"The world is still interested in how we're doing," @Patricialicious says. She's still fielding media calls. #Fergusonmedia
— Erica Smith (@ericasmith) September 18, 2014
This isn't a story that will die down soon, @BrittanyNoble says. #FergusonMedia
— Erica Smith (@ericasmith) September 18, 2014
#MichaelBrown #Ferguson unearthed a host of racial and socioeconomic issues #STL has struggled with for a long time. #FergusonMedia
— Cocoa Popps (@CocoaPopps) September 18, 2014
How do you combat false reports? Traditional journalism is challenged, @ChristopherAve says. #FergusonMedia
— Erica Smith (@ericasmith) September 18, 2014
We need to reaffirm our search for truth, @ChristopherAve says. #Fergusonmedia
— Erica Smith (@ericasmith) September 18, 2014
@ChristopherAve Youth: Big news will find me. Tough for media to succeed. Our best effort is toward accuracy, facts. #FergusonMedia #stl
— David Sheets (@DKSheets) September 18, 2014
"We're trying to get much better on Twitter and Facebook," @ChristopherAve says. #FergusonMedia
— Erica Smith (@ericasmith) September 18, 2014
Yes, journalism is important. But news orgs have got to thrive in the digital world, not fight digital reality. #FergusonMedia
— Margie Freivogel (@mwfreivogel) September 18, 2014
Ave: great to be angry about it (coverage), because it means you care. #FergusonMedia
— Beth O'Malley (@PDBeth) September 18, 2014
Panel: Nothing wrong with the public fact-checking media. Responsibility for truth lies on both sides. #FergusonMedia #stl #Ferguson
— David Sheets (@DKSheets) September 18, 2014
Story comments
Story comment: Do they affect journalism? "Absolutely not," @ChristopherAve says. #Fergusonmedia
— Erica Smith (@ericasmith) September 18, 2014
Freivogel: newspaper has responsibility to kill racist comments. If can't monitor, need to close them. #FergusonMedia
— Beth O'Malley (@PDBeth) September 18, 2014
"If people say we're in a post-racial society, I say read the comments" section says @NABJ prez #BobButler #FergusonMedia #scarybuttrue
— Debra Bass (@debrabass) September 18, 2014
What happens next?
What will the media do if there's no indictment? "It's not even responsible to speculate," @Patricialicious says. #Fergusonmedia
— Erica Smith (@ericasmith) September 18, 2014
"Indictment of #DarrenWilson pushed off to January, after the election…"~ @nabj President #FergusonMedia
— Cocoa Popps (@CocoaPopps) September 18, 2014
Freivogel: releasing grand jury records (if no indictment) may not help with reaction. #FergusonMedia
— Beth O'Malley (@PDBeth) September 18, 2014
Curfews and the media ‘playpen’
The media "playpen" in #ferguson? Many didn't go, @BrittanyNoble says. "I didn't have a lawyer," @BradleyRayford says. #fergusonmedia
— Erica Smith (@ericasmith) September 18, 2014
Why did reporters stay in safe area? Many did not, including some from @stlpublicradio #Fergusonmedia
— Margie Freivogel (@mwfreivogel) September 18, 2014
Some say they remained in "media pen" for fear of being arrested but @bfreivogel says "pen" wouldn't have protected anyway. #FergusonMedia
— Cocoa Popps (@CocoaPopps) September 18, 2014
POs told @MzzzMariah, "I can't help you if you're outta those ropes." She did what she could to get into #Ferguson media pen. #Fergusonmedia
— etaecha (@etaecha) September 18, 2014
"If you want the good story, be prepared to hide in a bush," @Patricialicious says. #FergusonMedia
— Erica Smith (@ericasmith) September 18, 2014
The "juicy stories" happened when media cordoned off in controlled areas by police, says @Patricialicious at #Fergusonmedia panel.
— John S. Forrester (@JohnSForrester) September 18, 2014
@Patricialicious – big respect for the work of the photo journalists who did put themselves in the face of tear gas. Images. #FergusonMedia
— Tayé Foster Bradshaw (@lattegriot) September 18, 2014
.@Patricialicious says work by @PDPJ and @kodacohen made her buy the paper. #Fergusonmedia
— Erica Smith (@ericasmith) September 18, 2014
"Your choices are: you obey the guy with the gun or…" And that's a journalist talking about police #fergusonmedia
— Shantel Middleton (@TheShantelM) September 18, 2014
"You are taking your life in your hands, your career in your hands by doing this" @NABJ prez on protest coverage at #Fergusonmedia panel
— John S. Forrester (@JohnSForrester) September 18, 2014