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Giving you insights on the protest coverage

This week we continued to watch news coverage of the demonstrations and protests around the world over the death of George Floyd at the hands of police in Minneapolis. Depending on which source you turn to for information, you could have a very different understanding of the events than your neighbor. Poynter senior media writer Tom Jones shares how cable news networks make it feel as if we’re living in two different Americas ([link removed]).

This week we also watched as the actions of America’s police were intensely scrutinized. Poynter senior faculty member Al Tompkins offers you another perspective: He reported that while city governments cut essential services and laid off workers due to COVID-19 shutdowns, they pay millions for police misconduct lawsuits ([link removed]).

Fact-checking your questions

Similar to the COVID-19 “infodemic,” these protests are not immune to the spread of misinformation. And it’s not just viral images ([link removed]) and posts on Facebook ([link removed]).

Perhaps you heard top Minnesota officials reassure their constituents that the majority of the protesters causing violence were from out of state — claims that President Trump and Speaker Pelosi both repeated. In fact, the arrest records obtained by local journalists proved the opposite. Poynter’s PolitiFact explains how elected officials contributed to misinformation around the protests ([link removed]).

Helping journalists bring you coverage of the demonstrations…safely
As I watched the protests this week, I couldn’t help but feel admiration for the journalists that were reporting from within the crowds — and yet I also experienced anxiety and concern for their well-being. Giving journalists the tools to safely and accurately report the news is just one of the many ways Poynter helps keep you informed every day. As demonstrators nationwide continue to protest police brutality, here are 23 things Poynter recommends journalists do to stay safe ([link removed]).

Providing inspiration to future journalists

Despite it being an extremely challenging time to be a journalist — combine the ongoing newsroom closures, layoffs and pay cuts ([link removed]) with being arrested ([link removed]), pepper-sprayed
([link removed]) and shot with rubber bullets ([link removed])just for doing your job — young people today are still entering the profession. Poynter is there to guide them. For high school students interested in journalism, we created an online course this July (which is still accepting applications: [link removed]), in case you want to share with the teens in your life). To help college journalism pivot to these realities, Poynter launched two newsletters: The Lead ([link removed]) is for student journalists, and Alma Matters ([link removed]) is for college journalism educators and advisors.

Poynter is inspiring the newest generation of journalists to uphold the values of a free press, despite the obstacles. Read below how Poynter’s teaching impacted a college journalism class.

Hello from Flagler College.

I wanted to reach out because I’ve been meaning to since the day I did the webinar on Job-hunting during a pandemic, as I wanted to tell you it was terrific and thanks for putting that on.

I did want to say it was very helpful for the seniors in my Advanced Reporting class who are wading into a world that many of us don’t even really know how to fully help them. I mean, raise your hand if you’ve been through a pandemic, Great Depression-ish job market and now nation-rattling riots … ALL AT THE SAME TIME!

Keep it up, thanks for being a resource for college students and let me know if there’s anything little Flagler can ever do to help you someday!

Brian Thompson
News and Information Director
Flagler College Magazine Editor
College Newspaper Adviser

Please consider making a contribution toward our mission today so we can continue to keep you informed tomorrow. If you recently made a donation to Poynter ... thank you!
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Be well,
Josh Herrington
Development Director
[email protected]

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Michael Dreyer, President, Tampa Bay Trust Company

Frank “Sandy” Rief III, Attorney, Allen Dell, Attorneys at Law

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