ABC7 Sensationalist Reporting Worries Viewers and Media Watchdogs
WASHINGTON - Notorious local television station ABC7 reports on the story. Fear mongering reporting style has viewers wondering if theoretical efforts by the station to actually report reality have had any effect.
A few FACTS-
A young man was shot four times in the chest with a 45 yesterday around 11:30am. The victim was incredibly lucky in that the bullets apparently missed all major organs. Not only will he live, but he was apparently alert and gesturing with his arms at the scene. The victim was sitting in a minivan when he was shot by 2-3 attackers with very bad aim [they reportedly fired 8-10 shots]. It was an ambush style shooting, and the shooters fled on foot. This happened in the 1100 block of Queen, just off West Virginia.
Fox News actually does a pretty good job of putting the shooting in perspective. They discuss the this serious and disturbing daytime shooting, refer to the checkpoints last summer, but also talk about how things have been pretty quite in the neighborhood recently.
14 comments:
Sorry to hijack, but does anyone know why the Florida has been closed between Orren and Staples? Been that way for about a week. Sorry if I missed a mention of it elsewhere...just curious!
It's been closed bk the wall of a house collapsed and that makes the entire structure unstable.
Thanks, inked...I figured you'd have the scoop!
It's closed for a week because of a collapsed wall? Silly me, I thought the city was doing work there. I can't believe it's been closed so long- would they do that to any busy street in NW? Traffic during rush hour must be insane- I've only encountered it once, and it was late at night.
In regard to the channel 7 story, I can't help but singing a certain Duran Duran song after listening to her describe Trinidad!
Just gotta ask... Why the venom towards WJLA? I'm guessing you take umbrage at the "notorious D.C. neighborhood" line, but the rest of the story seems to be fairly straight-up reporting.
I get that you are proud of the neighborhood, and that most residents in the neighborhood are good, hardworking people, but that doesn't change the fact that Trinidad is pretty notorious, both for shootings and for last summer's police street closures in response, and that it would be foolish to report on a shooting in the area without referencing that history.
Which viewers and media watchdogs (besides yourself, of course) are troubled by this report? I'm not doubting that they exist, but some additional reporting on your part would go a long way towards justifying your position.
Ryan,
Did you watch the Fox story? Fox reported on the shooting, talked about the checkpoints and past crimes in the neighborhood. They did a good job of putting things in perspective.
ABC7 was just lazy and called the neighborhood notorious without reporting much of anything except that a guy was shot. It's less about neighborhood pride, and more about hating sloppy reporting. It's disappointing bk I think most of the stuff they turn out is decent, but that piece was just bad. My tone and style was sarcastic in the portion that I wrote about ABC7. I thought that was really obvious because I echoed their language and set it up with a headline. Sorry that wasn't obvious enough that I was poking fun at an over the top headline with another over the top headline.
Breaking news - local TV reporting is shallow!
meh.
this isn't really "news". why can't they ever report on something interesting and engaging? like the splattery poo someone keeps depositing in the alley? now that's the sh*t!
(my apologies in advance to those of you that have zero sense of humour)
Someone on the MPD-1D list reports that there was a drive-by at the Rosedale Rec center tonight (Tuesday). I've seen some speculation about some of last summer's shootings involving beefing between Trinidad and Rosedale. If there indeed was a shooting tonight, wonder if they're connected...
@Charles: No, it doesn't have to be. Or at least, it doesn't have to be that shallow. The Fox story was actually pretty decent, ending with the hopeful context that this is the first shooting since December.
It'd be too much for reporters to find out why people are shooting each other, though. All reporting sources these days are too shallow for that.
Oops, police confirmed the shooting on the 1D list just now. Looking for tips...
Why people shoot each other is maybe a topic for novelists or sociologists. I wouldn't hold my breath waiting for the TV news team to explain that.
I do think that 8 shots in broad daylight is newsworthy. And like it or not, as H Street is promoted as an entertainment and dining district, it becomes more newsworthy.
It is absolutely newsworthy. But here's an interesting fact that I learned from the same officer who described the scene for me- three other people were actually murdered elsewhere in the 5th District the same day as the shooting. Apparently not all homicides [and this guy didn't die] are newsworthy. WJLA's reporting was lazy on this one, and I think that they only reported on it because of the Trinidad thing with the checkpoints.
I do want to see this stuff covered in the local media [I like to know what is going on around me]. It's just that I'd prefer something more nuanced, like the Fox news story.
If anyone has more info on yesterday's shooting in Rosedale please share.
"Why people shoot each other is maybe a topic for novelists or sociologists."
Let's see how many members of the community also might have a serious interest in this topic. Here's a brief list: prosecutors, homicide detectives, family members, witnesses, neighbors, jurors and defense attorneys. I think these people read newspapers. So even the most craven of reporters might want to simply sell newspapers to these people, never mind that little notion of public service. Yeah, why a series of shootings is taking place might be newsworthy
@Inked Great detail about the editors' priorities. I guess it's not the case necessarily that if it bleeds, it leads. If it bleeds near where national reporters have recently been, it leads. Deaths elsewhere? Screw it.
hb,
that's exactly the point I wanted to make. I want to see more reporting on crime in communities, but I'd rather it not just be cheap shot stuff. We all know that if there is a shooting in Cleveland Park we'll hear about it. But we won't hear about anything on the other side of the Anacostia unless it's really sensational [or a slow news day]. We will hear about stuff in Rosedale [to some extent bk it's somewhat gentrified], and we will hear about stuff in Trinidad bk it's been in the national focus [through the checkpoints] and it's close to H Street.
There was a stabbing the same day on Mt. Olivet Road. The victim died. Nothing in the news. Despite its proximity, it didn't flag as Trinidad, so it wasn't newsworthy. When the media get that lazy we have a problem. We also have a problem when residents are no longer immediately, as we once were, informed of such incidents by MPD.
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