NEW YORK CITY, US, OMIKAMI-TV - New York
Times writer (and now Howard
University Journalism Professor) Nikole Hannah-Jones, went public this week
with a call for journalists not to cover shoplifting crimes, even criticizing
MSNBC’s Al Sharpton for his discussion of a viral video of a man who recently
stole steaks from a New York City Trader Joe’s. Hannah-Jones is a leading voice
for advocacy
journalism and her public criticism of the coverage of the rise in
shoplifting vividly shows what such journalism means for the profession.
The MSNBC
segment addressed a video of a man who casually walked out of the store with a
stack of steaks:
After that
video, the store was
hit again by a man who shoplifted and insisted in an interview that it
was entirely appropriate to do so.
Hannah-Jones
objected to MSNBC covering the story because it could support efforts to
increase policing and prosecution: “This drumbeat for continued mass
incarceration is really horrific to watch. A person stealing steak is not
national news, and there have always been thefts from stores. This is how you
legitimize the carceral state.”
It was
advocacy journalism in full display.
We have been
discussing the
rise of advocacy journalism and the rejection of objectivity in
journalism schools. Writers, editors, commentators,
and academics have
embraced rising calls for censorship and speech controls, including President-elect
Joe Biden and his key
advisers. This movement includes academics
rejecting the very concept of objectivity in journalism in favor of
open advocacy.
Columbia Journalism
Dean and New Yorker writer Steve Coll has denounced how the First
Amendment right to freedom of speech was being “weaponized” to protect
disinformation. In an interview with The
Stanford Daily, Stanford journalism professor, Ted Glasser, insisted that
journalism needed to “free itself from this notion of objectivity to develop a
sense of social justice.” He rejected the notion that the journalism is based
on objectivity and said that he views “journalists as activists because
journalism at its best — and indeed history at its best — is all about
morality.” Thus, “Journalists need to be overt and candid advocates for
social justice, and it’s hard to do that under the constraints of objectivity.”
Here
Hannah-Jones is demonstrating how such advocacy journalism works. There is no
question that there is a sharp rise in shoplifting across America, a trend that
has resulted in the closing of stores in some cities. As
I have previously written, this is due to a lack of deterrence in major
cities where prosecution is rare for such crimes and many stores do not even
bother calling the police. Even in liberal states like California,
politicians have been compelled to establish task forces to combat retail theft. Various Democratic
politicians have decried the rising crime trend.
That would
seem news. It impacts average citizens with the
closure of stores and increase prices due theft. However, by covering the
story, Hannah-Jones objects that reporters are working against social justice.
She has previously
declared that “all journalism is activism.” In this case, she would
have media bury such stories because that is not the narrative that she wants
viewers to hear.
While
Hannah-Jones’ view of journalism is opposed by many viewers, it is in vogue in
journalism schools. Indeed, UNC Journalism and Media Dean Susan
King fought to give a chair to Hannah-Jones and, in
another example of advocacy journalism, even pressured a journalist to
frame coverage to help that cause.
The impact
of such advocacy journalism is evident in every poll where the faith in the
media has plummeted. Indeed, the “Let’s
Go Brandon” movement is as much a criticism of the media as it is
President Biden. The United States ranked
dead last in media trust among 49 countries with just 29% saying that
they trusted the media.
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