Thread by @ScottHech

It was the bullet’s fault, the @nytimes told us. For the second time in 5 days.

https://twitter.com/scotthech/status/1474736853509156866

But the cop who shot & killed a 14 year old inside a dressing room was a “good cop,” the @nytimes told us.

“Whose bullet killed.” “A shooting that killed.” This is intentional & pathological behavior by the @nytimes. Refuses to assign accountability or agency to an armed state agent who unjustifiably killed two people.

An outrageous police killing. An unarmed man & 14 y/o girl. Shot w/ no regard for human life. Cops won’t be held to account. And get this: If the man they killed were still alive, they’d charge *him w/ the 14 y/os murder. Blame him for making them shoot. Why absolve they police?

I wrote extensively about how problematic the @nytimes headline from 5 days ago (below) was. And why: Most people won’t read beyond it absolving the shooter. It propels societal cruelty & apathy. Helps perpetuate state violence. “A stray bullet” was to blame. Not the cop.

Most people don't read beyond headlines. So most damage is already done no matter how comprehensive & nuanced the actual story is (an already unfortunate rarity in criminal justice journalism). Police have killed 1,646 people since George Floyd. Why do editors still do this?

Just today, @washingtonpost published a headline that separated a 17 year olds brutal death at the hands of juvenile jail guards—already ruled a homicide—from the actions of those juvenile jail guards (still getting paid while an investigation occurs).

https://twitter.com/ScottHech/status/1476616694831333376

Better journalistic practices are a racial & social justice imperative. More thoughts on problematic current practices & what journalists & consumers of news can do right now to improve:

https://twitter.com/scotthech/status/1445820985094017034?s=21

In this piece, I offer a roadmap for journalists & editors. “Media outlets, editors, & reporters need to turn to sources beyond just police & prosecutors, convey genuine nuance in their reporting & headlines, and stop the use of dehumanizing language." thenation.com/article/societ…

I’m just outraged at the @nytimes. According to them: It’s not only just a “bullet” that killed a 14 year old & another unjustifiably. The cop who shot & killed—was a “good cop.” Who “shoved other cops aside to shoot up a department store & murder 2 people.” Illegal. Deadly.

https://twitter.com/stoplapdspying/status/1476632330735284239

What will it take, @nytimes? This editorial behavior is actively harmful, illogical, inaccurate, insulting, traumatizing propaganda. When will it stop? Why keep doing it?

I’m exhausted of critiquing the @nytimes. But can’t stop. Won’t stop. They are so influential. “The paper of record.” Literally forming & molding millions & millions of minds & beliefs about criminal system everyday. And it’s so often so tilted toward power. At expense of truth.

I’m thinking about this @nytimes column & headline legitimizing a blatant lie (police budgets up everywhere & still no health/safety) by the architect of racist overpolicing. This is outrageous & dangerous stuff.

I’m thinking about how influential intellectuals w/ large mailing lists believe what they read in the @nytimes & then share things about the need to “refund” the police when the police weren’t defunded. Or about how “reform” is a “disaster” when reform barely exists.

https://twitter.com/scotthech/status/1447990350400737283

I’m thinking about how after the copaganda about Walgreens closing in San Francisco bc of retail theft was thoroughly debunked & disproven, the @nytimes then jumped into fray & published an article amplifying the lie about it all over again.

https://twitter.com/scotthech/status/1449468544538726402

Thinking of how the @nytimes allowed a police chief & police consultant to push the ACTUAL FALSEHOOD that a rise in homicides is a result of “social justice protests, & bail reform efforts”

https://twitter.com/scotthech/status/1442540645021720578?s=21

I’m thinking about how this @nytimes headline should’ve read: “A year after the murder of George Floyd, police budgets in every major city increased, which should force cities to reassess why they continue to invest billions in a failed strategy."

https://twitter.com/nytimes/status/1396571659356839939?s=21

Here’s @nytimes using dehumanizing language & fearmongering about people being tortured on Rikers Island.

https://twitter.com/scotthech/status/1447624399289348102?s=21

Here’s a push notification from @nytimes just taking police at their word despite what they & all of us should know about cops: They lie. All the time. About matters big & small.

https://twitter.com/scotthech/status/1394678362816368641?s=21

There was this from @nytimes in December 2020:

https://twitter.com/scotthech/status/1344298417963606021?s=21

When fearmongering was at all time high in NY prior to bail reform, @nytimes interviewed one of the Jewish victims of an alleged “hate crime.” She bravely called for her assailant to get help. Not jail. Decried exploitation. Didn’t include her in the story.

https://twitter.com/katieh_schaffer/status/1222499847657467904?s=21

I found this @nytimes statement on the importance of truth. Shortly after Trump took office. Saved it. Was meaningful to me. Wish they had done so much better during the Trump years. And now hope they’ll do better at reporting & covering crime & justice.