Be informed, not ignorant on Baltimore

Baltimore is a great city. It is home to the sports teams I follow, universities, churches, an inner harbor, and more importantly where people live. My mother was born and raised in Baltimore. I was born outside Baltimore in Maryland and lived there for about 20 years. As a former Marylander, I’m shocked at the reporting in Baltimore that I’ve seen.

The scenes and pictures of Baltimore rioting over the death of Freddie Gray by police is inescapable. Facebook, Twitter, TV, and the internet are all reporting using words like “thugs”, “vandals” or “rioters”. However, media talking heads are blaming, criticizing, and pointing fingers. As usual, the media are driving a very specific narrative and image: inner city [racial] chaos.

An example of this is on Fox News 

Another protester told Vittert he’s upset about all the police brutality, but it was drowned out by more indiscernible shouting. The audio feed briefly cut out, but one f-bomb was picked up on the air. Kelly immediately said, “This is ridiculous. This is how folks want to be heard? They want to shout down the reporter? They want to endanger him?”

One person equals “This is how folks want to be heard”? One story, one person does not equal the whole story. However, that is the picture that many in the media want to paint. Geraldo Rivera told a vandal protester who was blocking the news camera, “You blocking my camera… You’re making a fool of yourself!” to which someone replied, “We don’t want your false coverage!”

With cities like Ferguson, Cleveland, Brooklyn, and Baltimore protesting what residents feel as injustice, the media captures the worst of the worst. Riots in other cities, for other reasons, are often reported differently by some news outlets. It seems that scenes of violence fill the airwaves more than the scenes of peaceful protests. What about the scenes of people trying to help? Perhaps one of the most powerful and important news worthy events that are occurring in Baltimore is what the clergy are doing. Hundreds of clergy marched in Baltimore to promote peace. WBAL in Baltimore reported first hand what occurred on April 27:

THESE ARE THE TOP LEADERS OF THE RELIGIOUS COMMUNITY. THESE ARE THE CHURCH LEADERS… PUTTING THEMSELVES IN HARM’S WAY TO END THE VIOLENCE AND STOP THE VIOLENCE. LINKED ARM IN ARM IN THE WAY THAT RIGHT NOW CALLING FOR MORE LINKING OF ARMS TO PROTECT EVERYONE. IN THE FRONT, THE CLERGY MARCHING THROUGH THE DISTRICT IN AN EFFORT TO FIND PEACE.

ONE GENTLEMAN IS SAYING NOW WE CAN’T SOLVE THIS BY THROWING BOTTLES AND ROCKS AND NOBODY IS THROWING ANYTHING RIGHT NOW. THEY ARE APPROACHING THE POLICE AND THE OFFICERS ARE SMILING. THEY LOOK GRATEFUL TO HAVE THIS MOMENT AND NOW THEY ARE TURNING AROUND HERE.

APPARENTLY THE POLICE HAVE JUST TOLD ME THEY ARE GOING TO FOLLOW THE CLERGY ALL THE WAY BACK UP SO THEY CAN GET TO SOME OF THE AREAS WHERE THEY CAN TAKE CHARGE.

Thankfully, the local Baltimore station WBAL included more information about what is going on in Baltimore. Rev. Jamal Bryant, the Baltimore pastor who delivered the eulogy at Freddie Gray’s funeral said on the Today Show, “Violence and justice never go together in the same sentence.”

It’s easy to paint this Baltimore story about race or “thugs” because it sells TV ads. However, what you are seeing on TV or on the internet is not the whole story. If you simply watch one news station or read one newspaper article on Baltimore you are not informed. By only letting some of the story come to your attention, you most likely getting the worst of the worst. You are only getting 5% of the story.

Resist the urge to let a soundbite or 30 second news clip tell you the whole story.