Black Leaders Want Local Media to Stop Reporting Crimes (Pittsburgh: apartment, violent crime)

[SteelCityRising]

I was just shaking my head in disbelief as I read this morning's Post-Gazette and saw that local African-American leaders want our three primary television newscasts to stop covering stories regarding violent crimes if they involve African-Americans because they feel as if the media is making the black community look badly by doing so.

TV news directors assess coverage of the black community

With this coming on the heels of an African-American city councilman pitching to no longer require job applicants to disclose if they have been convicted of a felony when they seek employment with the city because it is supposedly racist I'm tiring of the pattern I'm noticing with so many in Pittsburgh crying foul and pulling the race card when it's inappropriate to be doing so.

From the article:

"If the only information about black people is what's in the news, there's a reason why unemployment rate is astronomic and why we have all these negative issues -- because the imaging of black people is extremely negative," said BPEP president Tim Stevens. "Not only does it affect the viewpoint of white people with their thoughts on black people, I say it affects the psychology of black people."

^ In other words let's stop reporting actually important news and start adding feel-good "fluff" specifically meant to boost whites' image of African-Americans in Pittsburgh? According to President Stevens the reason why the African-American unemployment rate in the city is so high is because WTAE, WPXI, and KDKA aren't showing blacks that they could lead upstanding professional lives in lieu of criminal lives? In other words, it's up to television to motivate blacks to get jobs?

Let's not forget that "racism" is a two-way street in this city. The only time I ever had any difficulty performing my job was during a delivery to a Homewood housing project when three young African-American males intimidated me in their apartment because of my race.

"Many attendees complained the main coverage of black Pittsburghers was at murder scenes or courthouses. "I'm tired of turning on the news and seeing a sister with her hair all over the place, five teeth missing and looking like she just stepped out of the bedroom. That's not something I want to see every time an African-American is interviewed on the news," one BPEP activist said."

^ In other words let's encourage our local news media to ring the doorbell of a college-educated African-American family in Fox Chapel to interview them about an unrelated violent crime story in Homewood? I'm just not quite understanding the point these "activists" are trying to get at. If that black woman with unkempt hair, missing teeth, and questionable appearance is pivotal to garnering more information about a breaking news story, then why ignore her and not report the story at all? I've seen plenty of unkempt white-trashy Caucasians interviewed on the local news, especially in and around Carson Street after dark.

"News officials countered that they go wherever important crimes are, and don't choose coverage along race or neighborhood lines.

"We're not pursuing bad news. But look, if there's a shooting in Wexford we're going to go cover it. If there's a shooting in Homewood we're going to go cover a shooting in Homewood," said Alex Bongiorno, news director for WTAE-TV."

^ My sentiments exactly. Wasn't it a Caucasian man that murdered his young female neighbor in Shadyside a few years ago? Didn't the media SWARM all over that story like vultures to a dead carcass?

What exactly are leaders in the local black community trying to accomplish here, as I still don't understand?

[Aqua Teen Carl]

If black people stop committing the majority of the crime in the city then these news stories will stop. Problem solved and everyone is happy!

[Little Mizz Pittsburgh]

[SteelCityRising]

I realize this will be a "touchy" subject, and a constructive and respectful dialogue would be appreciated. I didn't post it merely to troll. I just simply don't understand what having our local news media refusing to report any negative stories involving African-Americans will do to help curtail the issues these leaders are broaching? I'm a proponent of affirmative action, but if it's okay to report a Caucasian murdering another Caucasian in Wexford (it could happen), then why is it not appropriate to report an African-American killing another African-American in the Hill District?

[WestLibertyAve]

Where does it say they want the local media to stop reporting crime???

"News directors for the city's three major local news networks are considering signing a joint agreement on coverage policies regarding Pittsburgh's black community as part of an effort to add positive messages to the news as an offset to crime coverage."

They simply want positive stories reported too, which isn't so unreasonable. For every black person that commits a violent crime in this city there are other black people who are working hard to make this city a better place....what's wrong with mentioning that on the news?

[hempfield mania]

Talk about an ostrich just putting its head in the sand...

Anyways, did the black leaders ever take a gander at some of the news stories from Fayette, Greene, Washington or Westmoreland Counties? Plenty of disheveled, toothless, white people in those news stories!

Richard Poplawski (sp?) got plenty of coverage in the PGH media as did Richard Baumhammer and George Sodini.

I can't say I have seen any "bias" in the media here, maybe too much PC...when they won't even state the race of a suspect in a crime sometimes even though they know what it is...

[Lobick]

Originally Posted by SteelCityRising

I was just shaking my head in disbelief as I read this morning's Post-Gazette and saw that local African-American leaders want our three primary television newscasts to stop covering stories regarding violent crimes if they involve African-Americans because they feel as if the media is making the black community look badly by doing so.

With all due respect, I've read the article 3 times now and nowhere can I find anybody saying that violent crime involving African Americans should go unreported on.

It seems to me that they're asking that, in addition to the current coverage, more positive stories about the African American population in the city are also reported, thus presenting a more fully fleshed out and truthful representation of the African American existence to the community at large. This would seem to me to be useful thing, especially for those individuals who may not interact with minority groups within the city often and are therefore more susceptible to having local media shape their beliefs and perhaps help form their prejudices.

I don't see any conspiracies to avoid reporting on crime or any aspirations towards Pravda style sanitized news.

[SteelCityRising]

Originally Posted by WestLibertyAve

Where does it say they want the local media to stop reporting crime???

"News directors for the city's three major local news networks are considering signing a joint agreement on coverage policies regarding Pittsburgh's black community as part of an effort to add positive messages to the news as an offset to crime coverage."

They simply want positive stories reported too, which isn't so unreasonable. For every black person that commits a violent crime in this city there are other black people who are working hard to make this city a better place....what's wrong with mentioning that on the news?

^ I've already seen positive stories regarding African-Americans giving back to our community, and our business has donated goods to charitable causes within the black community. I'm well aware that there are more good eggs than bad apples in the black community here; however, I find it disturbing that black leaders (as quoted in the article) are INDEED criticizing the local media for showing too many negative stories regarding blacks.

Are we really supposed to devote five minutes of every newscast now for "feel good" stories regarding African-Americans, and, if so, why not require equal "feel good" coverage to every other minority group? We gays don't exactly have the best image, either, to most Pittsburghers. Should I start organizing activists to petition the local news media to showcase more "feel good" stories about gays? Gay leaders don't blame the media for the problems within our community, so why do African-American leaders?

[SteelCityRising]

Originally Posted by Lobick

With all due respect, I've read the article 3 times now and nowhere can I find anybody saying that violent crime involving African Americans should go unreported on.

It seems to me that they're asking that, in addition to the current coverage, more positive stories about the African American population in the city are also reported, thus presenting a more fully fleshed out and truthful representation of the African American existence to the community at large. This would seem to me to be useful thing, especially for those individuals who may not interact with minority groups within the city often and are therefore more susceptible to having local media shape their beliefs and perhaps help form their prejudices.

I don't see any conspiracies to avoid reporting on crime or any aspirations towards Pravda style sanitized news.

I personally don't see how one can draw a parallel between an imbalance between positive and negative press regarding a specific group and a high unemployment rate for that group, for example, which is just one thing alleged in that article. I see plenty of young African-American males just loitering in certain neighborhoods during my deliveries while businesses all over town are hiring. I fail to see how KDKA reporting about a homicide in the Hill District will then cause those same individuals I drive past to be unable to find employment. If anything I feel as if I've been passed up in the past for positions because of my own race, but I just trudge onwards and apply elsewhere. If they're trying to imply that seeing so much negative press about African-Americans will discourage Caucasian business owners from hiring blacks, then that's definitely a slippery slope. Gays are vilified (I have a feeling FOX News is one of the main culprits as to why same-sex marriage is illegal), yet I've never had trouble finding a job. Jobs are out there for those who want them. You just have to be patient and willing to take a position that is "beneath" you sometimes in hopes that you will be launched back up the ladder.

It all comes down to taking ownership of your own faults and accepting personal responsibility.

Also directly from the article:

"It would be easier for stations to cover other stories, said Mr. Goldrick and others, if black activists were better at communicating with newsrooms about events. "There's a steady stream of information coming into our newsroom all the time. It's very easy for the negative to come in: We have police scanners, fire scanners and public information officers to let us know what's going on," he said. "We want to do positive news. Nobody wants to knock on the door and talk to the mom who just lost her son."

How many of these activists had taken a pivotal pro-active role to inform the local news media about positive events occurring within their community prior to bellyaching?

[Jrn14]

I think the news should go as follows

5% good news about african americans
5% good news about whites.
5% good news about Chinese
5% good news about gays and trannies
45% appocolyptic weather forecasts that don't happen
20% Stillerz
10% Stories about dogs
5% news (as long as it doesn't offend anyone)...