![\"Calling](\"https:\/\/fair.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/911.jpg\")
The presumption of innocence is supposed to protect those accused of a crime, in law and in the press. In corporate media, that rule also seems to apply to white people who report people of color to the police for doing innocuous things. As FAIR found, their identities are far more closely protected than those of people falsely targeted for \u201csuspicious\u201d behavior.<\/p>\n
In the past few weeks, major news media have been flooded with coverage of incidents of alleged racial profiling and implicit bias\u2014from golfers reported to police for playing \u201ctoo slowly,\u201d to picnickers fingered for using the wrong type of grill at a park. This coverage was prompted by viral videos and other social media posts released by the accused or by concerned bystanders, in real time or soon after these events occurred. The characters in these stories had one thing in common: The callers and officers involved were white; the alleged offenders, black or brown.<\/p>\n
In a survey of coverage of four recent racial profiling cases, FAIR examined articles or segments in the New York Times<\/b>, Washington Post<\/b> and USA Today<\/b>; on NPR<\/b>, CNN<\/b>, Fox<\/b>, and the CBS<\/b>, NBC <\/b>and ABC<\/b> evening news; as well as in major papers in the region where the incidents occurred.<\/p>\n
These stories, while similar in content (often using the same quotes or incorporating Associated Press<\/b> reports), didn\u2019t lack for details. Those accused, police, witnesses, and corporate and institutional leaders were interviewed. Multimedia elements were included, such as smartphone, regular, and police body cam videos, audio from 9\/11 calls, police reports and screen captures of social media posts.<\/p>\n
But almost across the board, while the accused\u2019s names and personal details have been made public, the accusers remain unnamed. Though equally newsworthy, they were allowed to retain their anonymity.<\/p>\n
![\"NYT:](\"https:\/\/fair.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/NYT-Starbucks.png\")
<\/p>\nNo longer employed, but still anonymous (New York Times<\/strong>, 4\/16\/18<\/a>)<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n April 12:<\/b><\/span> Donte Robinson and Rashon Nelson, two African-American entrepreneurs waiting for a colleague at a Starbucks in Philadelphia, were arrested by at least six police officers for \u201ctrespassing\u201d when they failed to buy coffee before asking to use the restroom. In news reports, the white woman who called the police was identified variously as \u201can employee\u201d (NYT, USAT, CNN, NPR, Fox<\/b>), \u201cwhite female employee\u201d (WP<\/b>), \u201cStarbucks employee\u201d (CBS<\/b>), \u201cstaffers\u201d\/\u201ca barista\u201d (ABC<\/b>) and \u201ca manager\u201d (NBC, ABC<\/b>). The Philadelphia Inquirer<\/b> also referred to \u201cStarbucks employees.\u201d Several follow-up stories about the manager\u2019s later firing or resignation (Starbucks won\u2019t say) called her only \u201cthe employee\u201d (NYT<\/b>) or \u201cthe manager\u201d (CBS<\/b>).<\/p>\n NBC News<\/b> seemed to go out of its way not to reveal anything about the caller; its broadcast included audio from the 911 call in which her voice was intentionally distorted.<\/p>\n April 30:<\/b> <\/span>Brothers Thomas and Lloyd Gray of New Mexico, members of the Mohawk tribe and prospective students at Colorado State University, showed up late and spoke little during a campus tour. The Native American youth, dressed in typical teen garb of black T-shirts bearing metal-band logos, were patted down and questioned by campus police after a white woman on the tour called to report the \u201ccreepy kids\u201d who\u2019d made her nervous. Distraught, they missed the rest of the tour and drove home early.<\/p>\n In media, the caller was referred to only as \u201ca parent\u201d (NYT<\/b>, CBS<\/b>, CNN<\/b>, USAT<\/b>, NPR<\/b>, WP<\/b>), \u201ca suspicious parent\/concerned parent\/unidentified mother\u201d (ABC<\/b>), \u201ca mom\/the nervous parent\/the mother, who has not been identified\u201d (CNN<\/b>) or \u201ca mother\/the woman\u201d (NYT<\/b>, WP<\/b>). The plethora of local coverage from newspapers and network news affiliates also cited only \u201ca parent.\u201d<\/p>\n The New York Times<\/b> (5\/5\/18<\/a>) seems to have made some attempt to identify her, noting \u201cher name was withheld by the campus police,\u201d as did the Washington Post<\/b> (5\/4\/18<\/a>), which stated \u201cthe woman [was] identified in a police report as a 45-year-old white woman from Colorado,\u201d and noted that \u201cthe caller\u2019s name was redacted in the police report, along with the teenagers\u2019 names.\u201d So did a follow-up AP<\/b> report published in the Denver Post<\/b> (5\/7\/18<\/a>).<\/p>\n Several outlets included audio of the 911 call, which appears to be redacted (there are moments of silence at points when the caller gives her name). It is unclear whether the edits were made by police or news outlets.<\/p>\n The prime mover in this story is known only as “a woman” (Washington Post<\/strong>, 5\/8\/18<\/a>).<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n April 30:<\/b> <\/span>Filmmaker Donisha Prendergast and three colleagues, two of them black (as is Prendergast), were packing suitcases into their car after spending the night at an Airbnb in Rialto, California. They soon found themselves surrounded by patrol cars after a white neighbor reported that the house was being robbed. Police detained them and questioned them extensively before letting them go. Prendergast and her friends are now suing the department.<\/p>\n In coverage, the caller remained unidentified, except as a \u201cneighbor\u201d (NYT<\/b>, WP<\/b>, CBS<\/b>, NBC<\/b>, Fox<\/b>\u2014as well as USAT<\/b>, which didn\u2019t begin coverage till the lawsuit was filed); \u201csomeone\/an elderly white woman\u201d (CNN<\/b>); \u201cthe caller\/the reporting party\u201d (ABC<\/b>). (NPR<\/b> did not cover the incident.) The local Los Angeles Times<\/b> dubbed the caller \u201ca woman.\u201d Yet many reports made a point to specify the less-relevant detail that Prendergast is Bob Marley\u2019s granddaughter.<\/p>\n May 8:<\/b> <\/span>Lolade Siyonbola, a black Yale University graduate student, fell asleep while studying in a dorm common room. A white grad student chastised her and called the police. The four officers detained her for more than 20 minutes to confirm her identity, even after she showed them her dorm room and unlocked the door. In all but a few cases, the caller went unnamed in news coverage, even though video images of the incidents showed the woman\u2019s face.<\/p>\n Outlets called her variously \u201ca white student\/the student\u201d (USAT<\/b>, NYT<\/b>, CNN<\/b>, ABC<\/b>, CBS<\/b>, NBC<\/b>); \u201canother female student\/the unidentified student\u201d (CNN<\/b>); \u201ca white graduate student\u201d (FOX<\/b>, reprinting an AP<\/b> report); or \u201csomeone\/the woman\u201d (NYT<\/b>). No coverage was found for NPR<\/b>. The local New Haven Register <\/b>simply published a Yale press release, naming no one.<\/p>\n A notable exception was the Washington Post<\/b> (5\/11\/18<\/a>), which not only managed to identify the caller\u2013one Sarah Braasch\u2014but also included Siyonbola\u2019s allegation that Braasch had a history of calling cops on unfamiliar African-Americans. The Root<\/b> (5\/10\/18<\/a>), citing a report in the Yale Daily News<\/b>, subsequently confirmed an incident in which Braasch had called police on a different black student, Jean-Louis Reneson, who\u2019d gotten lost in the dorm and asked her for directions. (ABC News<\/b> also referenced the previous incident, without naming Braasch.) Contrast this with NBC News<\/b> (5\/10\/18), which went so far as to redact Braasch\u2019s name from the image it included of Siyonbola\u2019s Facebook<\/b> posts on the incident.<\/p>\n The lack of ID is especially odd considering these outlets didn\u2019t break these stories; they could have added value to the social media reports by not only identifying the persons responsible but obtaining their take on the incidents. Starbucks, Airbnb, Colorado State University and the Rialto police department all issued elaborate statements and\/or apologies quoted in these stories. Critics have demanded the 911 callers apologize as well (or even be charged themselves)\u2014 issues the unnamed callers will never have to address.<\/p>\n The trend of allowing callers to retain their privacy is problematic for several reasons. First, it fails to follow one of the basic tenets of reporting, omitting the first of the proverbial 5 Ws (who, what, where, when, why). Key players in these stories \u2013 the individuals who triggered the incidents by contacting authorities \u2013 remain mysterious. Confirming a caller\u2019s identity also helps to establish that person\u2019s credibility, as well as their motivations.<\/p>\n Moreover, as think pieces and op eds in these outlets pointed out in subsequent coverage, racial profiling and harassment are an ongoing problem for people of color. Such incidents can lead to loss of innocent lives at the hands of armed police, as the families of Philando Castile and Sandra Bland know all too well. Failure to attempt to explore and publicize the identity and background of people who overreact to the presence of people of color means such injustices will continue to happen\u2014not to mention the waste of police time and resources better spent pursuing actual criminals.<\/p>\n Fox News<\/strong> (4\/15\/18<\/a>)<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n What\u2019s behind this trend? It seems the media are substituting the news judgment of the police, Starbucks and two universities rather than retaining journalistic independence, allowing institutional protocols to limit coverage. They also appear to allow the privacy preferences of the callers to influence the stories, implicitly giving them the benefit of the doubt. For example, NBC News<\/b>\u2019 piece on the Yale incident opened with a voiceover asking, \u201cRacial bias or an honest mistake?\u201d<\/p>\n And from the headlines and framing of certain stories, we might also surmise that some outlets felt the callers\u2019 and cops\u2019 actions were justifiable: \u201cOfficers in Starbucks Incident ‘Did Absolutely Nothing Wrong,’ Philadelphia Police Chief Says\u201d (Fox<\/b>, 4\/12\/18<\/a>); \u201cPolice Chief Defends Officers’ Actions in Viral Starbucks Arrest Video\u201d (CBS<\/b>, 4\/12\/18<\/a>). Similarly, in the Airbnb case, we saw headlines such as \u201cVideo Shows Black Airbnb Guests, Police Joking About Call\u201d (New York Times<\/b>, 5\/8\/18<\/a>) and \u201cCalifornia Police Release Bodycam Footage, Defend Detaining Bob Marley\u2019s Granddaughter and Others\u201d (San Jose Mercury News<\/b>, 5\/9\/18<\/a>).<\/p>\n Veteran journalist Aly Col\u00f3n, a professor of media ethics at Washington and Lee University and formerly director of Standards & Practices at NBC News<\/b> and Telemundo Network News<\/b>, explains that those who, rightly or wrongly, become the subject of police action are considered public figures, but even private parties involved should be named whenever possible.<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s an axiom, \u2018Make sure you get the name of the dog,\u201d he says. \u201cMeaning when you go into a news story, get the names of everybody<\/i>.\u201d Col\u00f3n told FAIR, \u201cIt doesn\u2019t behoove journalists to leave any questions that they can answer unanswered.\u201d Without these perspectives, \u201cit runs the risk of diminishing the credibility of the story.\u201d<\/p>\n In this era of social media trolling, people have a right not to talk to the press. But there are ways to obtain a name beyond relying on callers to out themselves or institutions to release their identities. For example, some stories on the Airbnb incident quoted the owner of the house, Marie Rodriguez, who defended her neighbor\u2019s actions. Surely Rodriguez knew this caller\u2019s name. \u00a0If a reporter asks and is unsuccessful, it\u2019s customary to indicate what attempts were made, or why<\/i> identities were omitted or redacted.<\/p>\n (As this story was being edited, the identity of a lawyer, Aaron Schlossberg, who harassed a New York restaurant patron for speaking Spanish on May 16, was included in May 18 stories by CBS News<\/b>, USA Today<\/b> and the New York Daily News<\/b>, among others. On May 15, The Root<\/b> published a piece<\/a> on \u201cBBQ Becky,\u201d the white woman who called police on black Oakland picnickers. She\u2019s environmental scientist Jennifer Schulte. In both cases, the information came thanks to tips from social media users, subsequently verified by the news outlets. )<\/p>\n “Publicity might make callers think twice and decrease the danger of false arrest and death” (Washington Post<\/strong>, 5\/16\/18<\/a>)<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n In many ways, the press response to recent events is promising. There has been a steady stream of follow-up articles on these profiling incidents as well as commentary on racism, law enforcement and justice, helping to sustain the public conversation on vital topics. Yet the identity of three of four 911 callers remains a mystery. It is time to name them\u2014not so much to shame them, but to fulfill the news media\u2019s role in advancing the public\u2019s right to know.<\/p>\n There is also the matter of accountability. In an opinion piece for the Washington Post<\/b> (5\/16\/18<\/a>), professors Stacey Patton and Anthony Paul Farley wrote:<\/p>\n It is a crime to file a false police report. When places of public accommodation enlist the police to remove people based on race, the owners and managers should be investigated and prosecuted for filing false police reports. At the Philly Starbucks, the Yale dorm, the golf course or the Oakland park, the police investigation should have focused on the frivolous and possibly criminal abuses of the 911 emergency system rather than on the people who were doing nothing wrong when someone called about them.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n And that should be the focus of the press as well.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/span> The presumption of innocence is supposed to protect those accused of a crime, in law and in the press. In corporate media, that rule also seems to apply to white people who report people of color to the police for doing innocuous things. As FAIR found, their identities are far more closely protected than those […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2521,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[519],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-361836","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-newswire"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/361836","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2521"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=361836"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/361836\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=361836"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=361836"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=361836"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"WaPo:](\"https:\/\/fair.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/WaPo-Airbnb.png\")
<\/p>\nProblems With Privacy<\/strong><\/h2>\n
Implicit Media Bias?<\/strong><\/h2>\n
![\"Fox](\"https:\/\/fair.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/Fox-Starbucks.png\")
<\/p>\nHow to Do Better
\n<\/b><\/h2>\n![\"WaPo:](\"https:\/\/fair.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/WaPo-911.png\")
<\/p>\n\n
\nThis piece was reprinted by RINF Alternative News<\/a> with permission from FAIR<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"