Media

Media fail to cover discrimination in USDA programs

In 2010, the U.S. Department of Agriculture announced a $1.25 billion settlement in the discrimination lawsuit by African-American agriculture producers. The case, commonly known as Pigford I or II, represents the largest civil rights settlement in the history of the United States. Yet very few media outlets provided original or continued coverage of the case. The two media outlets that most frequently gave the settlement attention were National Public Radio and the Washington Post. Both are based in the D.C. area and are known for covering the national political scene. The Associated Press had a handful of articles and briefs related to the case. The NPR reports and AP articles then were recycled through media outlets across the United States. Granted, limited attention is better than no attention – but why, in a region in which agriculture is a leading industry, did we not see more original reporting by Midwest media?

Media

Subtle but distinct differences in Pendleton shooting coverage

Before the nation heard of Hadiya Pendleton, the grim realities of Chicago’s gun violence had been largely overlooked by United States media outlets. Not anymore. The 15-year-old’s tragic shooting death in Chicago Jan. 29 highlighted the impact gangs and gun violence have had on the nation’s third-largest city. News coverage revealed that Pendleton, a high school honors student and majorette, had performed with her school’s band in the parade at President Obama’s inauguration just a week earlier. With that angle, the story immediately gained prominence over other similar incidents involving innocent teens being caught in gang members’ crosshairs.

Media

Journalism and the powers that be: What’s scandalmongering got to do with it?

What’s scandalmongering got to do with journalism and the powers that be? Maybe far less than most of us who give a hoot about journalism care to admit. “Media Gets Targeted by Obama, Discovers No One Cares Except the Media,” wrote Bethania Palma Markus, a Los Angeles-area reporter, on the left-wing blog Counterpunch. She claimed the media “never cared about (the government’s) abuse of power until it hit them in the face,” as in the recent scandals involving the Associated Press and Fox News. She’s not hit the bull’s eye, but she makes a good point. Who indeed should be concerned about what Obama officials did when they seized AP telephone records and spied on a Fox News correspondent?

Media

St. Louis TV stations get severe storms coverage right

At a high level, kudos to the local St. Louis television stations and their meteorologists for keeping people up to date and safe when last Friday’s (May 31) storms hit. While some people may have been upset that their programming was pre-empted, it was the right thing to do. The fact there were no deaths or serious injuries, despite three tornadoes in the area, may well be attributed partly to the local station’s non-stop coverage and warnings. All three stations’ meteorologists used their Doppler radar technology to pinpoint the likely locations of the twisters. Hindsight proved them to all be correct.

Media

Midwest Center for Investigative Reporting hones in on agribusiness

“Covering agribusiness in the heartland is like covering Apple in Washington or Google in Silicon Valley.” This was told to more than two dozen journalists who cover agriculture by Craig Gunderson of the University of Illinois. Gunderson was speaking to the group as part of a three-day workshop on agribusiness reporting conducted by the Midwest Center for Investigative Reporting.