Milwaukee Coverage Reveals Sharp Conflicts In Reporting Of Race Retaliation and Violent Speech

Screen Shot 2016-08-16 at 9.40.26 PMFox News and conservative media has been reporting that black protesters have been hunting white citizens in retaliation for the recent police shooting, including a reporter who said in a YouTube statement that he had to leave the area in fear of being killed. The question is, if these reports are true, why there has been no hate crime reporting or Justice Department investigation. There is also a sharp conflict raised over CNN’s reporting of the statements of Sylville Smith’s sister. The sharp contrast in coverage suggests either exaggeration from one side or avoidance from another. There of course should only be one side in the reporting of news, but this is the latest example of the reason why so many mistrust the media.


UnknownThe riots began after the 23-year-old Sylville Smith was shot by a black patrol officer. He was armed with a stolen gun and fled from a car during a traffic stop.  The loaded gun had been stolen in an earlier burglary. Smith had reportedly an extensive criminal record.  The police appear to have have body cameras so we will hopefully be able to learn more about the reason for the shooting, though the officers stated that they fired after the gun was brandished or pointed at them.

Independent journalist Tim Pool received acclaim in his coverage of the Occupy Wall Street movement. He also has reported that whites were being hunted down. While Pool expressed sympathy with the protesters, he stated “For those that are perceivably white, it is just not safe to be here. And that’s why I’m deciding to leave.”

Fox has also shown videos of groups calling for the running down of whites seen on the streets.

None of this means that all or most of the protesters are engaging in racist retaliation. However, the sharp contrast in reporting is precisely why people increasingly view media as pursuing hidden agendas or shaping the news.

Another sharp contrast is found between the Washington Times and CNN. The Washington Times has accused CNN of editing out the words of Sylville Smith’s sister who called for attacks on the suburbs. Instead, CNN reported that she called for peace and no violence.

CNN showed Sherelle Smith telling protesters: “Don’t bring the violence here and the ignorance here.” In both broadcast and Web stories, CNN framed Smith as calling for peace. However, the Washington Times said that CNN cut away before Smith yelled” “Stop burning down shit we need in our community. Take that shit to the suburbs. Burn they shit down. We need our shit. We need our weaves. I don’t wear it. But we need it.”

That is a very different take from the CNN.com article saying that Smith “condemned violence carried out in her brother’s name, saying the community needs those businesses.”   More importantly, it is also obvious news if the sister of the victim is telling people to burn down the suburbs.  Reporters are not supposed to shape the news. The report it.  That is news.  It is also legitimate to explore the history of race tensions and segregation in Milwaukee — the underling anger that erupted into the streets.  Likewise, it is obviously news if there are racist retaliatory attacks and whites being chased down streets or pulled from cars.  These conflicting piece raise troubling questions of how our media has diverged over preferred narratives as opposed to fully reporting all of these elements.

141 thoughts on “Milwaukee Coverage Reveals Sharp Conflicts In Reporting Of Race Retaliation and Violent Speech”

  1. About 3.6 million people have a Social Security Disability award due to a psychological or psychiatric diagnosis. I cannot find the figure for SSI awards, but if its as prevalent in that population, there would be a stock of 700,000 such awards.

    About 900,000 people would qualify for a check based on low psychometric scores. There are another 6 million who might qualify were the low psychometric scores conjoined to some other impairment. People impaired to some degree by a history of schizophreniform breakdowns number about 1.5 million.

    You can tell that mission creep is a problem with both programs, because you can get benefits for being an addict and for disorders for which the diagnostic criteria appear to have been radically relaxed in the last generation (e.g. ‘bipolar disorder’ and autism spectrum disorders). However, it’s hard just making a quick inspection how shizzy the pool of beneficiaries really is.

  2. Po,
    “he lives in a food desert without access to fresh fruit and vegetable.”

    I do not completely buy the food desert argument.

    A major part of poor nutrition is choosing less nourishing food. Frozen veggies are fairly economical. Education plays a major role in quality of food being purchased. I cannot find the link to that study at present, however, and do not have the leisure at the moment to do so. Also, processed food is designed to excite the brain and reinforce its ingestion, see Salt, Sugar, Fat by Michael Moss.

  3. Here’s some news! Poor Old Sylville was getting a “crazy check!”

    Brookins stated that his grandson suffered from mental health issues and was receiving Social Security benefits related to his mental disability. He went on to write in his letter that as a youth and adult, Smith suffered from diminished “comprehension and understanding.” His grandson was in special needs classes in elementary school and middle school . . .

    http://rollingout.com/2016/08/18/suspect-killed-police-milwaukee-fear-life/

    What is a “crazy check?”

    The problem is that so many young people, especially men, are claiming they are nuts. Yes, this is the biggest scam since the welfare queens of the 1980s, and it’s getting worse. They call it “the crazy check” and there are wide swathes of men playing the system for these checks.

    http://finance.townhall.com/columnists/charlespayne/2012/04/29/the_new_welfare_queen_getting_crazy_checks

    Crazy checks are a welfare scam. Little boys are often taught how to act slow and kinda retarded to get the check. Problem is, they are also crammed into the retard classes in school, and then don’t get a good education. When they turn 18, they apply for the crazy check as an adult, and a lot of then get it.

    Squeeky Fromm
    Girl Reporter

  4. @slohrss29

    Yes, I miss Aridog, too. IIRC, he lived in Detroit, and was a Vietnam vet. And his avatar was a cute little German Shepherd. He said he was maybe 70+ years old I think, sooo I hope he isn’t dead or something.

    Squeeky Fromm
    Girl Reporter

  5. I had traditions and culture, he didn’t.

    Black Americans have an ample supply of traditions and culture. People are commonly distracted by consumer goods and neglect those traditions and that culture, a phenomenon which is modal and not at all limited to blacks. Per news reports, Freddie Gray’s mother was astoundingly intellecutally deficient for someone not living in a group home. Passing on ‘traditions and culture’ was likely not something she could not do.

  6. I had a safe environment, without guns and much violence, where I knew my neighbors and had familial support.

    Per the UN office which attempts this sort of survey data, the homicide rate in Tropical and Southern Africa averages to 15 per 100,000. That’s better than Latin America, but only Latin America.

  7. Slohrss,
    “He was retired military, I believe, and I think he was in the Chicago area”

    Aridog? He was retired military, but was in Detroit. I miss him, too. He was an interesting, thoughtful guy.

  8. I grew around in an environment generally free of pesticides, of smog and of chemical pollution, he didn’t.

    Baltimore does not have bad air quality. The problem there is summer heat.

  9. Po,
    “what we are facing is a government that no longer serves its citizens”

    This is off-topic, but I agree with you on this point for sure.

  10. I never went to school hungry, he did.

    In this country, our poor people are fat and have received subsidized groceries since 1965. If Freddie Gray ever went to be hungry, it’s because his mother was punishing him for some transgression.

    Freddy gray was severally poisoned by lead, for example, I wasn’t.

    He wasn’t. He had elevated lead levels of the sort doctors monitor. They were not in excess of 20 mcg/dl, which is below the threshhold of wherein formal treatment protocols are implemented.

    https://medlineplus.gov/ency/article/003360.htm

  11. I wonder sometimes how they can take it! I have lived here 20 years and I already suffer from PTSD from the relentless dehumanization and oppression that Black skin feels in every aspect of its life

    You don’t suffer from PTSD. You’re just a drama queen.

  12. Art, you certainly know about talking out of your ass, you’ve been doing a lot of that all over this thread.

    And none of what you quoted supports your original contention. ‘Supporting documentation’ refers to such things as invoices which are inputs for constructing the military’s ledgers. That’s not saying the military lost $6.5 tn, it’s saying their bookkeepers and accountants were not providing supporting documentation according to spec.

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