This is important. A Washington Post journalist published a rare, thoughtful, & nuanced analysis of crime data & how outsized media sensationalism drives public opinion. Not facts. For this, he’s become a rightwing punching bag. I try my best to explain: washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/…
The piece starts out w/ an anecdote of a Fox reporter approaching NY Rep. Jerry Nadler. The reporter’s brother was tragically shot & killed in June. Asked about the “crime crisis.” Nadler did not immediately respond. Fox made a stink. WaPo rightfully suggests it’s complicated
The reporter Gianno Caldwell is a rightwing propagandist. And he’s also a surviving family member of a brother who was shot. Can’t come close to imagining. Truly sorry. But he’s using that loss to misinform, drive anger, & push for more of the same policies that enabled the loss.
Washington Post reporter Philip Bump (@pbump) then continues his nuanced look at crime, media, & perception by offering a clear assessment of what crime data doesn’t tell us. It’s a lot. Crime is hyper local. Data is hampered by inconsistent reporting. So we’re left w/ anecdotes.
Important to note that reporter doesn’t deny crime has seen increases cross country, while acknowledging by how much & relative to what is largely unknown. What he’s looking at is the outsized disproportionate focus on it. And notable lack of attention on failures of policing.
The @washingtonpost reporter notes—aptly & accurately—that w/ little reliable data nationally & in many local jurisdictions, the public is left to the devices of local & national media, prone to sensationalism. Anecdote of rare outlier cases replace data & *become* reality.
What also gets lost in convos on crime data is that A) Any crime increases are happening despite investing more in policing than any society in history of world & B) All data about alternatives to criminalization—inc. Bail reform—points to extraordinary success. We don’t hear it.
Media sensationalism is widespread. Not just rightwing outlets. All outlets: NYT, CNN, NPR, & in the reporter, Philip Bump’s own Washington Post. A problem. Even worse: How rightwing outlets like FoxNews are able to seize on crime confusion for political gain. What it looks like:
Look at this graph. The difference in mentions of “crime” as a pressing issue before and after Biden was elected as compared to other outlets—who also critically are covering crime at outsized rates, driven both by real relative increases, but also police & prosecutor influence.
Brief interlude to say it’s not just GOP who uses media to instill an inaccurate sense of quality & quantity of crime. Bloomberg did a masterful analysis of actual gun violence in NYC compared to reporting on it after NYC mayor started his propaganda campaign. It’s crazy. Look:
I was impressed that the Washington Post identified the impact of outsized & overblown news coverage on crime—and only certain kinds of crime—on peoples outsized fear & *perceptions of their own vulnerability to crime, *even where they perceived their own communities to be safe.
Also critical to note *who* the Fox reporter was asking about about the “crime crisis.” A Congressman from NY. Why wasn’t this Fox Reporter asking lawmakers from the 8 GOP states that top the list of most murders in country: thirdway.org/report/the-red…
The Washington Post identifies why it’s so easy for opponents of bail reform & other modest changes that have seen extraordinary success to win the public perception battle simply by using a handful of outlier cases of violence. Fear sells. Fear works. Way more than data. Facts.
In places like Chicago where the Fox reporters brother was killed, the most policed neighborhoods are those w/ the least resources & most violence then & now. What we’re actually starting to see make a real difference are alternatives like violence interruption. A model.
The article closes off by suggesting Nadler did nothing wrong by taking a beat & not immediately responding to Fox’s simplistic, loaded, & perhaps (understandably so) emotional—given his brother’s death—question. It’s complicated. And we need a media willing to grapple w/ nuance.
FoxNews is weaponizing tragedy—here a reporter’s own brother—to push to double down on the very same investments that failed his brother. It’s the definition of insanity. FoxNews should be directing their anger toward police. And if they truly care about safety focus on facts.
Instead, Fox & all of their most virulent rightwing, racist, fascist opponents of truth, are attacking a data journalist on his suggestion that shoving a mic in the face of lawmakers w/ “CRIME CRISIS” is unhelpful to finding solutions. Here’s De Santis’s chief of propaganda:
I’m going to end this thread with some resources for those actual curious about crime data & responsible reporting. Starting with this: Center for Just Journalism guide for reporters reporting on crime stats: justjournalism.org/media/download…
Here is a Bloomberg piece—hardly a “leftist” or progressive outlet—on the truth about crime & how media is playing a role in actually undermining safety by amplifying police talking points. bloomberg.com/graphics/2022-…
Here is a commentary by a public defender in Chicago. Who cares deeply about increasing public health and safety. And why media fearmongering & simplicity is hurting her city & leading to more deaths. teenvogue.com/story/rising-c…
Just to give you a sense of where fear and anger over alternatives to policing everywhere but also in Illinois/Chicago is coming from. It’s not data or facts. It’s fake newspapers conjured up by right wing for-profits
Lastly—for now. Survivors of crime are not the monolith Fox wants you to believe. Not only surviving family members use their tragedies & platforms to incite anger & more hyper policing that so clearly failed them & their families. rrstar.com/story/opinion/…
Read Philip Bump’s (@pbump) piece for yourselves. We need more journalism like this. Especially if we want to minimize the likelihood of tragedies like the killing of Fox News reporter Gianno Caldwell’s brother. I mean that in the best faith imaginable. washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/…
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Wow. Fiona Apple is a real one. Watch this video. Calling for donations to bail out Black mothers for Mother’s Day. Her fans already came through w donations & spreading the word. Over $30k! Let’s “fetch the bolt cutters” & support even more. I just gave. givebutter.com/nHSrnp
Two years ago, Fiona Apple popped up on a zoom call to get trained by local organizers to Court watch. Dedicated ever since. Her work has led to freedom, lawsuits, accountability.
The stories all here in this short video. She wrote & performed the score:
Be like Fiona Apple. Volunteer to CourtWatch. Visit this campaign hub, learn more, connect w/ a local courtwatch program, &/or learn how to start your own.
Injustice happens in empty courtrooms. Which allows police brutality to continue outside of them. Courtwatch.org
“No judge has ever lost their job setting bail on someone.”
A NYC judge whispered that. To a public defender. Before depriving their destitute client of freedom. This happens every day. Judges are intimidated to throw poor people in cages.
Thread on a history of intimidation:
Public defenders @elizaorlins & @APetrigh tell about the open secret of "justice" throughout the country People are deprived of liberty, not based on merit. But judicial fear of negative press.
"The NYPD’s recent social media attack against a judge who released a defendant under supervision instead of setting bail and detaining them. The case drew headlines because the NYPD’s aggressive social media posts were full of misinformation, including misidentifying the judge."
How copaganda works. Police, prosecutor, & prison interests use media to exaggerate & lie about "sensational" cases. Amplify them on repeat. Create the *perception* that "crime" or "migrants" are a "Crisis!"
Perpetual anger/fear buys votes & public opinion. Facts be damned.
How copaganda works. Police release a highly edited video that doesn't include their unprovoked, violent, & unjustified attack on a migrant. Manufactured "outcry" ensues. Lawmakers call for sweeping policy changes. New video later released. It's too late. Profound damage done.
How copaganda works. Even after previously withheld police footage showed the "attack on police" in Times Square was the opposite: An unprovoked attack *by police* on innocent people, reports continue only center the lie.
None (that I've seen) report on the overt police lie.
An interesting story for you. Was catching up w/ a friend at coffeeshop. The mother of her friend walked by & joined us briefly. She’s from Chicago. She told us a story about talking to a Chicago police officer. Thanking him for his service.
What he told her will surprise you.
As quick background, she is a white woman. In her 60s. Well off. Grew up in the suburbs of Chicago. Now downtown. Forever Dem. Supported the end of cash bail. But is “fed up” w/ “all the violence.” Thinks “something has to be done.”
She saw a cop the other day & went up to him.
She told the cop how scared she was by everything she was reading in the news. Couldn’t imagine how tough things were “for him” given the “crime rates.” (Note: Homicides are down significantly in most of Chicago, but violence remains a scourge).
Extraordinary work again from @TeenVogue -- the best justice journalism outlet in the country. On the day that cash bail is finally eliminated in Illinois, they release a critical explainer on "Copaganda."
How to identify & respond to lies & fearmongering about safety. Watch:
Must watch. The week that cash bail is finally eliminated in Illinois, local experts debunk harmful myths that the media peddles about bail reform. In this @TeenVogue video explainer.
"This fear has been built up & stoked by media misinformation. A refrain. A scapegoat " Watch:
Last year: Artists, survivors of violence, organizers, entrepreneurs, public defenders, policy experts, restorative justice practitioners, and system-impacted people sat for a series of conversations while exploring a groundbreaking exhibition on torture and incarceration.
Teen Vogue out again w/ the best in political commentary, justice journalism & truth. A compelling & easily digestible explainer on "Abolition."
New vision of safety: "If policing prosecution & incarceration created safety, we'd be the safest country in the world." Watch. Learn:
When people hear the word "abolition" they think 'crazy leftist.' 'Idealistic.'
In reality: "We're the clear eyed ones. We have the whole history of the world to let us know what were doing now is not sustainable. We want a world where violence isn't the norm." Part 2:
Last year: Artists, survivors of violence, organizers, entrepreneurs, public defenders, policy experts, restorative justice practitioners, and system-impacted people sat for a series of conversations while exploring a groundbreaking exhibition on torture and incarceration.