In order to acknowledge past failures, newsrooms are auditing their race coverage and reshaping the narratives of police violence.

January 2021
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** After the Capitol Riot, Journalists Contend with Rage against the Media ([link removed])
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Trump’s stoking of hostility — rhetorical and physical — toward reporters is likely to outlast his presidency. Read the story ([link removed]) .


** From the editor
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“What if the people storming the Capitol on January 6 had been Black?”

Adeshina Emmanuel, editor-in-chief of Injustice Watch ([link removed]) , poses that question in his examination of how coverage of police violence is changing ([link removed]) in response to last summer’s Black Lives Matter protests. Many newsrooms contrasted how law enforcement handled the largely white pro-Trump rioters and white supremacists who roamed freely through the halls of Congress after invading the Capitol on January 6 with the force deployed against the diverse group that gathered outside the White House on June 1 to peacefully protest the police killing of George Floyd.

A new dynamic is emerging in coverage of police violence and criminal justice. Adeshina’s piece explores how news outlets are telling stories about police violence victims that focus on their lives, not just their deaths. This shift is accompanied by other initiatives seeking to acknowledge and address past failures. Last week, The Boston Globe announced “Fresh Start ([link removed]) ,” a process through which the paper will consider appeals from people regarding their presence and characterization in older stories.

And more newsrooms are conducting audits of their race coverage in an effort to account for their pasts and to rethink their futures. Mará Rose Williams, education writer for The Kansas City Star, writes about how she and her colleagues decided to show readers the paper’s failure to adequately and accurately tell the rich stories of Black people’s contributions in Kansas City ([link removed]) . Her essay is part of our ongoing series on the racial reckoning taking place in newsrooms across the country, "The Newsrooms We Need Now ([link removed]) ."

"The further back we look, the further forward we can see," to paraphrase an aphorism often attributed to Winston Churchill. Initiatives like the Star’s, and the emerging models for covering police violence, offer fresh perspectives on what’s ahead. “We will approach every story we write differently,” Williams writes. “We will question our intentions, use of language, placement of stories, and decisions about what we cover and what we don’t. Doing this project changed the way each of us does day-to-day journalism.”

Sincerely,

James Geary
Editor, Nieman Reports
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** The Extremist Mob at the U.S. Capitol was America, Too ([link removed])
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Journalists need to do a better job conveying that ugly truth to audiences. Read more ([link removed])

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** In Lebanon, a Bold New Era for Accountability Journalism ([link removed])
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The devastating blast in Beirut has spurred investigations and outrage among journalists.
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** In Morocco, Press Freedom Advocates Say Sex Charges are Used to Silence Journalists ([link removed])
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Despite a state-backed crackdown, some journalists are managing to do independent reporting.
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Our Winter 2021 issue is online ([link removed])

As they prepare to cover the post-Trump era, political reporters in particular will face critical challenges, and the lingering issues of media mistrust, conspiracy theories, and journalism’s economic sustainability will continue to plague the media no matter who is in the White House.


** More from Nieman Foundation publications:
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Lessons in the purpose of poetic language from a presidential inauguration ([link removed])
Writing master Roy Peter Clark reflects on the power of words in politics, and how they mirror the times we live in.

Read more from Nieman Storyboard ([link removed]) .

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Is unpublishing old crime stories Orwellian or empathetic? The Boston Globe is offering past story subjects a “fresh start” ([link removed])
Should the worst moment of your life also be your top Google search result? Your “permanent record” is sometimes more about old news stories than court records, and newspapers are increasingly rethinking their responsibilities.

Read more from Nieman Lab ([link removed]) .
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