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Giving you insights on the protest coverage

(AP Photo/David J. Phillip)

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.

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. 

Fact-checking your questions

(AP Photo/John Minchillo)

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

Helping journalists bring you coverage of the demonstrations…safely

(AP Photo/John Minchillo)

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.

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 with being arrested, pepper-sprayed and shot with rubber bullets 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, 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 is for student journalists, and Alma Matters 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.

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Be well,


Josh Herrington
Development Director
[email protected]

Poynter Foundation Board Members: 

Brian Tierney, CEO, Brian Communications
Michael Dreyer, President, Tampa Bay Trust Company
Frank “Sandy” Rief III, Attorney, Allen Dell, Attorneys at Law
Liz Sembler, Board Member, Corporation for Public Broadcasting