Not All Sources from Protests are Created Equal

 Charlene Pepiot

cp872117@ohio.edu

Image from Pixabay.com

As with most news stories, journalists covering protests should seek out sources to help document the events that occurred. However, not all sources are created equal.

Police reports have been a staple source of information in journalism for years. This becomes an issue when protests, such as the recent Black Lives Matter demonstrations, are directed against the police. Journalists should still utilize these reports, but they must be aware of the author's potential bias.

When George Floyd was killed, the police report stated that he was potentially under the influence and resisted officers but was handcuffed and noted to be suffering medical distress. The report makes no mention that Floyd was pinned down with a knee on his neck for several minutes. Stating that he was potentially under the influence also paints Floyd in a poor light. If a journalist were to use this official report as their sole source for documenting the event, it would be drastically different than the events recorded on bystanders' phones.

This doesn't mean that all police reports should be disregarded, but it shows the importance of having different sources, such as witnesses and demonstrators at protests, to get a better idea of what's going on.

Of course, having an array of sources isn't enough to adequately cover a protest fairly. How you frame your sources is just as important. Going back to the police report example, if an article was written that used the report's explanation for Floyd's death, protestors claiming they are standing against "police brutality" comes across as inaccurate and an unwarranted attack on officers doing their job. 

To combat this, journalists should include statistics and recent news events that inspired the protests in their coverage of the event. In the case of the Goerge Floyd protests, for example, adding evidence of police brutality and the recordings of Floyd's death. Doing so will help an audience view protestors as competent sources fighting for a legit cause rather than looking to cause trouble.

Outside of first-person accounts gathered on the scene, it's especially important to check online sources before taking them as fact. The Floyd protests were bombarded by a slew of misinformation that included a child militia and people hijacking mall trains and riding them around town. The first was completely untrue while the second was an image from an unrelated protest several years prior. 

Journalists should be wary of misinformation surrounding protests when they first break out and not let the excitement of the moment cause them to sacrifice taking the time to fact-check their sources.