Poynter: “Here’s a prediction: A decade from now, the American newsrooms still standing will have completely reformed how they cover public safety, replacing cheap stories about shootings and stabbings with data-rich narratives that educate communities and hold cops accountable. This includes local TV stations and lurid tabloids. Last week, The Associated Press released the latest revamp of its Stylebook. It includes an entire chapter on criminal justice. This will become a foothold for newsrooms looking to chart a new course. The changes to the AP Stylebook are significant because they embrace a philosophy that emerged in the wake of the Minneapolis police murder of George Floyd. In the opening of the chapter, the AP lists several reasons for covering public safety, including educating the community, holding police and courts accountable, giving voice to victims and documenting trends. The chapter instructs journalists to be wary of police reports, especially early ones. And while it stops short of admonishing newsrooms for past behavior, it does say, “Accounts by police, especially in the hours just after a crime, are very incomplete and can be inaccurate, whether about specific details or about motivations behind the crime.”…
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