Author: William H. Freivogel

“Blue on black’ violence statistics explained

BY WILLIAM H. FREIVOGEL// An article of faith among those protesting Michael Brown’s death and among much of the media writing about the protests in Ferguson is that young African-American men are far more likely to be shot by police than young white men. Much of the national media – The New York Times, USA

Who’s leaking in Ferguson?

By WILLIAM H. FREIVOGEL// Attorney General Eric Holder said this week that he was "exasperated" by the flood of leaks from the criminal investigations of Ferguson Officer Darren Wilson's shooting of Michael Brown on Aug. 9. He suspects local officials leaked the information favorable to Wilson, just as they had earlier leaked a

Ferguson aftermath, two months later

By WILLIAM H. FREIVOGEL// Two months after Officer Darren Wilson shot Michael Brown, St. Louis remains at the vortex of a media whirlwind of live streaming video, social media, traditional media, national media and slanted cable and online outlets. For this journalist of four decades, the coverage of such an important national story in our

Post/Times’ stories powerful; but are they ethical?

By WILLIAM H. FREIVOGEL// Post/Times' stories powerful; but are they ethical? If a piece of journalism is so powerful that it captures the national conversation and results in positive reform, should it be immune from criticism for bias and inaccuracies? That question is raised by a potent one-two punch administered by the Washington Post

The myths of Ferguson’s media coverage

By WILLIAM H. FREIVOGEL / If readers have the idea that Ferguson, Mo. is an angry, mostly segregated black community, they could be forgiven because that is how the community was portrayed in the New York Times a week after riots broke out. In fact, though, Ferguson is one of the most integrated places in