There Are No Angels — What The New York Times Won’t Tell You

[deminks]

http://www.boston.com/news/nation/2014/08/25/there-are-angels-what-the-new-york-times-won-tell-you/zycFsD9vQFVGqNVb3m4cSM/story.html

Michael Brown is dead, shot multiple times by a police officer in Ferguson, Missouri. On the day he is to be buried, The New York Times profiled the 18-year-old. Included in the 1300-word piece are references to Brown’s taste in music and his poor grades.

“He occasionally smoked marijuana and drank alcohol, according to friends.”

I attended Malden Catholic High School in Malden, MA. I graduated in 2006 and went on to attend Northeastern University on a generous scholarship. During my second year, I got into a bad car accident and dropped out, eventually finishing my degree at Rutgers in New Jersey. If I got shot by a cop, the aforementioned facts might matter to The New York Times, but not nearly as much as some others.

“He began producing rap songs with friends … He collaborated on songs that included lyrics such as, “My favorite part is when the bodies hit the ground.”

I’m black, but my closest friends in high school were all white. All but two of them drank. All but one listened to rap music, everything from the vulgar to the high-minded. Most of my friends smoked weed. A few of them sold it. At senior prom, two of my friends offered me ecstasy. Our freshman year, we had a day of mourning to reflect on the death of our hockey team’s goalie, who’d overdosed on prescription meds. But if any of my white high school friends got shot, none of this would matter to The New York Times.

“Brown was not the best student.”

During college, I dated a beautiful, intelligent, funny girl. She was a pastor’s daughter from northern New Hampshire. She was blond with light eyes, a winning smile, great grades and a good head on her shoulders. She played sports, volunteered in church, and brightened the lives of the people around her. We broke up because her parents and grandmother completely objected to her dating a black man. But then she moved down south and had a baby with a black man. She was no angel. She drank, listened to vulgar rap — I taught her most of the words to Too $hort’s “Freaky Tales”. She is the proud mother of one of the absolute most beautiful little girls I have ever laid eyes upon. If she were shot dead in her tracks today, The New York Times wouldn’t write about her taste in music, or her drinking. None of that would matter.

(end snip)

The New York Times needs to stop being the news and start reporting it. I am sure their public editor is getting a little tired of apologizing.

http://www.boston.com/news/nation/2014/08/25/new-york-times-public-editor-calls-angel-line-regrettable-mistake/BB41eLFPDOXumCOBkaHvvN/story.html

New York Times’ Public Editor Calls ‘No Angel’ Line a ‘Regrettable Mistake’


http://publiceditor.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/08/21/a-ferguson-story-on-conflicting-accounts-seems-to-say-trust-us/?_php=true&_type=blogs&_r=0

A Ferguson Story on ‘Conflicting Accounts’ Seems to Say ‘Trust Us’

IMH non-angel O

[dixiegrrrrl]

1. Excellent point, well written indeed.

Every time the media reach for the stereotypes, they need to be called on it.

[roguevalley]

23. they do. I wonder what they wrote about the little

fucker who claimed affluenza after killing four people with his car and getting day care for a sentence? Was he 'no angel' too or does his color and money give him a pass?

[dixiegrrrrl]

25. You might appreciate this then:

Father of 'Affluenza' teen arrested for impersonating an officer

The father of a Texas teen who garnered national attention for being afflicted with "affluenza" has been arrested on accusations he impersonated a police officer, according to Dallas media outlets.

Tuesday, North Richland Hills police arrested Frederick Anthony Couch for falsely identifying himself as an officer and for misrepresentation of property, Dallas' KXAS-TV reports.

Back in late July, police said they were called to a disturbance involving Keith Capo, Couch and Capo's neighbor. Capo and his neighbor had reportedly been involved in an argument days before, and the neighbor threatened Capo.

Capo's wife called police, saying that Couch had presented himself as a reserve police officer and showed off a badge and ID card. When officers arrived, Couch told them the same thing and offered to show his "police" materials.They soon learned Couch wasn't an officer and arrested him.

http://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/article/Father-of-Affluenza-teen-arrested-for-5700724.php

[FSogol]

2. K & R. n/t

[uponit7771]

3. Hispanic and Black boys are expected to have less vises in order NOT to be deemed as dangerous...

... the duplicity in the NYT is gob smacking

[1StrongBlackMan]

13. It's not whether Hispanics and Black males have less vices ...

that would have them not deemed dangerous ... they are just presumed to have those vices, and therefore, are dangerous ... period.

[L0oniX]

4. K & R

[Enrique]

5. if his white friend were at the center of a story like this

news stories might well dig into her past the way this author says they would not.

And something to keep in mind is that the NYT story was based on interviews with Brown's friends and family, moreso than any other story I've seen.

[gopiscrap]

6. You should write this as an editorial to the NYT

and see if they have the balls to put it in. I have seen this slanted sort of journalism as a thinly veiled smear against anyone or type the print establishment doesn't like.

[WillyT]

7. K & R !!!

[heaven05]

8. okay

'brown, no angel", wilson, "mild mannered, soft spoken, even bland". In the racist mind who is the 'perp'?

[Moostache]

12. There is zero doubt about why that article saw the light of day, NONE.

This is a clear example of the bought and paid for media doing their job as lapdog to the powers that be and servicing their agenda.

A large part of that agenda is that the police must remain above official reproach by anyone, for anything, as long as humanly possible. They are nothing more than the illegitimate muscle arm of the plutocracy. This whole incident has been one ham-handed debacle after another, which really begs the question: "How fucking stupid do they think we are?"

Any rag (and that now includes the NYT...although seriously, how many decades has it been since that particular train wreck was a reputable source any more?) that participates in muddying the waters on this is guilty of aiding and abetting a felon (Murderer Wilson).

PERIOD.

An unarmed, 18-year old kid was executed by an out of control cop.

PERIOD.

Cigars don't fucking matter...
Marijuana use does not fucking matter...
High school grades do not fucking matter...

An unarmed, 18-year old kid was executed by an out of control cop.

PERIOD.

And fuck everyone who claims anything else is relevant in this story until that central FACT is addressed.

An unarmed, 18-year old kid was executed by an out of control cop.

PERIOD.

[BlancheSplanchnik]

16. ^^^ this^^^ n/t

[JaydenD]

27. Thank you!

I don't say much about Brown here because I start shaking mad. Thanks for saying what I'm thinking.

[VA_Jill]

9. It's kind of like being female

You have to work twice as hard and be twice as good to get the *same* recognition.

[LittleGirl]

19. exactly. n/t

[mercuryblues]

26. you mean

like the obit for Yvonne Brill?

The original started off with how she made a mean beef stroganoff. Only later did they mention that she invented the propulsion system that keeps satellites from falling out of orbit.

After a huge backlash they edited the obit, with explanation.

http://www.salon.com/2013/03/31/new_york_times_obit_for_rocket_scientist_introduces_her_as_mom_and_cook_first/

[JaydenD]

28. o lord in heaven. !!

[heaven05]

10. I gave up on NYT and NPR

when bushco's feces hit the Iraqi rotating oscillator. nuff said. They are in the trash bin of my history.

[Paladin]

11. Between crap like this and still giving Maureen Dowd a job, I'm about done with the NYT. (nt)

[samsingh]

14. the nyt apology is not good enough

it implies that a black person must be an angel to have a right to life.

disgusting.

the paper is well on its way to becoming faux.

their support for bush's lies is still not forgotten

[cantbeserious]

15. Character Assassination Is An Ugly Business That The 1% Uses Regularly

eom

[navarth]

17. Once again the NYT brings SHAME upon itself.

I am reminded of Judith Miller one more disgusting time.

[surrealAmerican]

18. How perfect does a person need to be to deserve to live?

If only the "best" student deserves to live, should we just execute the rest of the class at graduation? It would save time, right?

I had thought our rights applied to everyone, not just the most perfect among us.

[tea and oranges]

20. kick I'm no angel.

But I recognize lethal racism even when it's called journalism. Even when published in the NYT.

[maxrandb]

21. and I'm sure the NY Times is working on an article

on the music and grades of the guy who killed him...right?

I don't think what music someone listened to, or the grades they got in school, or if they smoked some weed or drank matters, but if the Times is going to do a story like this, then they should at least let us know about the listening habits, grades and alcohol consumption of the killer as well.

Did he listen to Limbaugh and Hannity?
Does he watch faux News 24/7?
Is he a T-bagger?
Does he belong to the NRA?
Did he question the President's birthplace?

How far do we want to go with this shit? What Mike Brown listened to, or how he performed in school have absolutely no relevance to the fact that he was "effing" gunned down for MAYBE shoplifting some cigars.

Holy Crap! I stold some Morgan David wine when I was 14, and received a police escort home to my parents. Of course, I am white, though

[Enrique]

30. no, they wrote an article about how his MOTHER committed a crime

and suggested that his mother's crime made him unfit to be a police officer.

[napkinz]

22. racial bias in media ...

[Enthusiast]

24. Kicked and recommended a whole bunch!

[supernova]

29. Interesting how....

it is only "regrettable" when the readers beat their balls off for saying it. Calling it "regrettable" is like saying the NYT "misspoke". It has nothing to do with what they really think and feel and personally I think the editor should be handed not only his ass but also his pink slip.