a few notes (from someone who was heavy in very serious journalism awards circuit around this time). 1. Despite the universal praise now, I heard this criticism of Julie Brown's reporting a lot from very serious big deal journalists. For ex, a WaPo "senior editor" once dismissed her 2018 work as not having anything new compared to his own work (which...didn't move the Epstein story forward at all) 2. Big Journalism Awards Inc is over-indexed on "newness" which penalizes work over multi years (among reasons John Carreyrou's Theranos work never got a Pulitzer) as well as on "immediate impact." (Among reasons Indy Star's Larry Nassar reporting never got a Pulitzer). Both obvious factors in Brown's Pulitzer delay 3. The level of campaigning /backroom dealing from NYT people about Pulitzers is more or less terroristic

https://x.com/WesleyLowery/status/2052108759309090911

For ex, in same year the Pulitzers didn't move Brown's Epstein work from the Investigative into another category, it did move the NYT's Trump taxes reporting, into "explanatory," giving it the award over that category's finalists (of which WaPo's/my Murder with Impunity was one)

A project everyone should read - perhaps especially today on Juneteenth.

Do you know about the first systemic attempt to provide benefits/reparations to those formerly enslaved?

Thousands were given land.

Then it was taken back. 🧵motherjones.com/politics/2024/… Many people have heard of "40 Acres and a Mule" -- although like much of American history, many don't know much about it (or don't want to admit that they don't actually know anything). Truly, it's ok. So much of this was actually, literally hidden from us

this guidance is interesting.

first thing that sticks out: “each newsroom employee is acting *at all times* as a representative of the AJC”

counterpoint: no, they aren’t? Taking a newsroom job means you literally no longer have *any* private life/speech?

https://twitter.com/fizapirani/status/1796530399046164656

“embrace our role as neutral observers”

The journalists as individuals and the media organization as a whole are impacted by the issues and the outcomes of these events - making them, definitionally, not neutral (or “disinterested”, or whatever other term).

1/This month on #AmericaInBlackBET, we collaborated w/@propublica to shed light on the Black Amputation Epidemic -- Black Americans are 2-3x more likely to get major amputations than white Americans -- and highlight a doctor saving limbs and lives

features.propublica.org/diabetes-amput… 2/ Instead of undertaking efforts to restore blood flow, research shows that doctors disproportionately recommend that their Black patients undergo amputations -- a drastic, irreversible step.

ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK58756…

American journalism has been stuck in a circular debate about "objectivity" while our industry - and our democracy - die.

It's time to move on.

But to do so, the journalistic establishment must recognize critiques for what they actually are. cjr.org/analysis/a-tes… I've been asked to write this piece, or something like it, a number of times since my initial NYT op-ed in 2020. I've resisted in part because I find this entire "debate" exhausting. But I finally hit my limit with having my arguments completely misstated by bad faith actors

FBI released part of its file on NBA great Bill Russell today (some of this had been previously reported and released). A short thread on that's in there vault.fbi.gov/william-russel… FBI file was opened in 1971, as part of an investigation into the Black Panther Party - federal officials claimed in order to probe Russell's connection with BPP leaders

unless i’m missing something: an hour after the former president announces he believes he’s being arrested next week, I’m not seeing any mention of it on WaPo, NYT or WSJ homepages. Not a criticism, but definitely interested in knowing if that’s a deliberate decision (could also just be a saturday AM staffing thing)

a major risk in indicting Trump has always been that there are millions of people who (baselessly) believe him the country’s legitimate leader and millions more who see him as the head of their movement - portion of whom have shown they are willing to attempt a coup if he asks

https://twitter.com/JonLemire/status/1637056532482326530

In the context of January 6, I think it is impossible to read Trump’s statement this morning as anything other than a call for political violence - I hope that, unlike in the run-up to January 6, our institutions (law enforcement, media) treat it as such

it’s chilling and gross for the top editors of the New York Times to threaten to suspend or fire journalists for exercising their First Amendment rights by critiquing coverage. Antithetical to what one would imagine would be core, sacrosanct values: free speech and public debate A newsroom, like any workplace, aims to create an environment where everyone feels safe and supported. And also: if you work the NYT you are publishing in the most powerful media outlet in the world. Critiques of the work should not just be expected, they should be welcome

Retweet

https://twitter.com/sulliview/status/1630738187558551553

there's a reality v perception dynamic at the heart of this (like w/"objectivity"). Comments from NYT make it clear their concern is whether *someone * *could argue* that it *seems* like reporters aren't independent of outside activists - not that they actually aren't independent

Jonathan Capehart quits Washington Post editorial board, leaving no people of color axios.com/2023/02/28/was… for what it’s worth, my last name is spelled L-O-W-E-R-Y, and I was never a columnist at the Washington Post

the lede: I’ve spent years reporting on the rise in white racial violence - against immigrants, Muslims, Jews and black Americans - since America elected its first black president.

The result, AMERICAN WHITELASH, is out in June. You can preorder it now harpercollins.com/products/ameri… the backstory: my first book, about the protest movement that emerged following the deaths of Oscar Grant, Trayvon Martin, Eric Garner and Michael Brown, published the second week of November 2016 - immediately after a nativist demagogue was elected president of the United States

a few thoughts on the videos of Tyre Nichols' killing by Memphis police... before the videos even begin: We're told this began with a traffic stop - why was he removed from the car? The officers involved were from so-called Scorpion squad. Any time you hear about a police "elite" squad it should raise suspicion -- these teams are often hotbeds of abuse

since this will come up a lot in media coverage of Tyre Nichols in Memphis: while I get that it seems narratively significant that the officers are black. Statistically, it is unsurprising. In tracking police violence, we never found that race of the officer made much difference this also applies to the narrative focus on "white" officers in cases like Ferguson, Walter Scott, etc etc. What this implies - often unintentionally - is that the issue here is personal (or personal prejudice) and not systemic (something any officer could get caught up in)