It was a tale of two Baltimores on Wednesday afternoon and evening, depending on whether you were watching local or national coverage of the city in the wake of a hung jury in the first trial in the Freddie Gray case. Some network and cable journalists described a city on the edge, about to break out in violence — while local TV reporters and anchors repeatedly used the word “peaceful” to accompany overhead helicopter shots of protesters downtown and in the Penn North neighborhood.
Media Criticism By Baltimore Cops ‘Reckless’
The Fraternal Order of Police’s conflict-of-interest charges Friday against the media in the Freddie Gray case are “reckless, strike at the heart of press credibility … and surely must confuse some of the many readers and viewers looking for the truth,” says Baltimore Sun columnist David Zurawik.That said, he adds, WBAL should have divulged the relationship between reporter Jayne Miller and lead prosecutor Janice Bledsoe.
