UK: Police say regional media reporting better than nationals
Posted by Alisa Zykova on November 14, 2008 at 4:12 PM
Police in the UK say that national news outlets in the country gave a "skewed" perspective of a murder story earlier this week. Coverage by local and regional media, meanwhile, was "informed", "accurate" and "balanced," says Derbyshire Assistant Chief Constable Peter Goodman.
Fifteen-year-old Kadem Blackwood was killed with a gun in Derby on Tuesday night and the crime is thought to be the first time that a teenager was shot dead in the city, reports Hold The Front Page.
Fifteen-year-old Kadem Blackwood was killed with a gun in Derby on Tuesday night and the crime is thought to be the first time that a teenager was shot dead in the city, reports Hold The Front Page.
National news sources made numerous errors in reporting the event, even
if they may have been "told the contrary", Goodman points out.
Nationals claimed that police were searching for people in a car
because the killing was allegedly a "drive-by shooting." However,
Goodman claims that both parties were on foot in a park and left on
foot. In addition, Blackwood was shot once and not twice, as some
sources reported.
Stories portraying inaccurate views may be unhelpful to the investigation process, Goodman says. Another way in which some nationals may have "skewed" the story is by publishing Blackwood's Bebo photographs, which had the teenager "posing in the fashion of a gangster."
Derby Evening Telegraph Deputy Editor Neil White says his paper decided against using these images since they may not prove anything.
"We have an excellent relationship with Derbyshire Police and are grateful that they kept us fully briefed on this murder inquiry. Thus we were more than happy to stick to the facts as presented by them and Kadeem's family," White says.
Source: Hold The Front Page
Stories portraying inaccurate views may be unhelpful to the investigation process, Goodman says. Another way in which some nationals may have "skewed" the story is by publishing Blackwood's Bebo photographs, which had the teenager "posing in the fashion of a gangster."
Derby Evening Telegraph Deputy Editor Neil White says his paper decided against using these images since they may not prove anything.
"We have an excellent relationship with Derbyshire Police and are grateful that they kept us fully briefed on this murder inquiry. Thus we were more than happy to stick to the facts as presented by them and Kadeem's family," White says.
Source: Hold The Front Page
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