Tragedies like the death of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Mo., rarely become a national story. But when they do, with a racial element attached, they’re complicated and require the news media to take extra precaution in order to get the facts right.
Media experts interviewed by the Washington Examiner said that, overall, the media did their jobs well in covering Ferguson. There are things, though, that should be avoided the next time.
Bending the rules
In early reports on Ferguson, the Associated Press repeatedly referred to Michael Brown as a “teen” or “teenager.” Brown was 18 at the time he was killed.
The AP Stylebook, a standard guide followed by countless other news publications across the country, clearly states that individuals 18 and older should be referred to as “man” or “woman” or by his or her specific age.
When AP’s spokesperson Paul Coleford was asked about the wire service’s decision to stray from its own rules, he didn’t respond. Subsequent AP reports on Ferguson, however, reverted back to official AP form and previous stories were edited to omit mentions of Brown as a “teen.”
Other outlets, including the New York Times, which has its own style guide, continued to refer to Brown as a teenager. Legally speaking, he is an adult.
Leaving out the other side
Two factors stand out in the shooting of Michael Brown: One, he was unarmed at the time of the incident, and two, Officer Darren Wilson claimed to have been acting in self-defense when he fired his weapon multiple times at Brown.
Yet, in far too many follow-up reports on the evolving situation, journalists emphasized Brown being unarmed without adding that Wilson claimed to have acted in self-defense. Neither fact is more important than the other, but in leaving out Wilson’s side, readers (who could have ended up in the grand jury that decided whether to indict Wilson) might have concluded Brown was the victim and Wilson the aggressor.
Reporting hearsay
Tensions between local police and the community they’re supposed to protect were inflamed quickly after Brown was killed. Reports surfaced that authorities may have reacted overzealously to diffuse impassioned protests. In such a situation, the news media does not service anyone by rubbing the sore with unsubstantiated claims.
CNN’s Don Lemon, for example, reported in August, mere days after the shooting, that a member of the U.S. National Guard referred to protesters with the n-word. “It is a true story,” He said. But Lemon had not seen a guard use this word in person or on tape. He said he relied on the story from one of his producers.
There’s no telling what impact, if any, Lemon’s third-person account of what a Guard may have said had in furthering animosity between law enforcement and normal citizens.
