I don’t know many journalists outside of the Law Enforcement Today community. In fact, the exact number that I do know is, well, zero.
I mention that to illustrate that I am basing this article only on what I read, and not from any conversation I’ve had directly with journalists. While I know plenty of people in the law enforcement community, I did not speak to any of them regarding this topic. So… disclaimer done. Let’s get into it.
The topic: media bias against our law enforcement community.
You really do not have to look any further than Monday’s events in Dallas, Texas. Brian Isaack Clyde, dressed in full tactical gear and carrying multiple high-capacity magazines and a rifle, opened fire on the Earle Cabell Federal Court House. In response, law enforcement officers from multiple agencies quickly engaged and eliminated the threat.
24 hours later, opening MSN as a landing page, the first headline article that pops up (shown above) is one that heralds journalist Tom Fox as a hero for taking video and photos of the shooter rather than seeking cover (I will say that there was definitely a level of bravery involved, but not heroic). To find the next article regarding the shooter scenario, you must scroll down 20 links. In that article (shown below), the writers provide details on the shooter.
Let’s go back to the first article, which was done by the Washington Post. I went to the Post’s website. Here is what was on their landing page.
You have to dig to find anything on the Dallas story. It’s at the top in the links behind stories on AOC, Joe Biden, Facebook and Boeing, listed as “Dallas shooting”.
What do you think we will find by clicking on that link? A story about how courageous a journalist was in the face of an active shooter.
I encourage our readers to read the article from the Washington Post and judge for themselves. The writer links multiple other articles. I checked all of them. None of them spend time giving praise to the agents and officers for eliminating a threat before there was loss of innocent life. They detail who the shooter is, highlight photographer Tom Fox and share stories of other DFW area courthouse shootings over the years.
I understand that our LEO community is not in their line of work for the applause or the accolades, but we must take the time to say thank you for a job well done. And yesterday was a job well done. Dallas PD, Department of Homeland Security and several other agencies had agents and officers respond. They took out a threat before lives were lost. And I, for one, believe that our newspapers on online content providers should be the first to make that appreciation known by addressing it in the articles they write.
Instead, they say things like: “The gunman then retreats, apparently taking fire himself. He runs to a parking lot across the street; more shots ring out in his direction. Fox continued to photos. It is not clear whether the shots that damaged the building’s front doors were fired by the shooter or law enforcement officials. Eventually, the gunman fell to the ground. Fox took more photos and video of the gunman, then shirtless and injured, and the emergency responders that surrounded him.”
I am not a journalist. I am just a guy who loves to write and am passionate about supporting our LEOs and other emergency responders. So maybe a journalism degree or a Washington Post press credential would teach me how to be more like these MSM hacks…but I would rather do it the way I do now, which is recognizing the efforts of our emergency responders and saying thank you.
Maybe the MSM could learn something from people like me.
