*Thread*
Biased media coverage not only misinforms, but actually helps build public support for aggressive police crackdowns /1

Let's face it, the news industry is in trouble. In particular, local papers are folding constantly, or shrinking. Often, rprtrs are under significant constraints, so they rely on official sources for quick summaries. This means a lot of protest coverage gets told from PD POV/2

With stories based on law enforcement perspective, coverage gets reduced to who was arrested, who broke the law, who are police worried about. The big problem here is it shifts focus away from what protesters are actually organizing about and creates a false narrative /3

These kind of sensationalized stories drag us into a neverending debate on tactics/substance. That was on full display this week as local news coverage from this wlknd focused on "violence" and "unrest." /4

As a viewer, you'd be forgiven for thinking protesters have been terrorizing the city for two months. Sure, protests can be complicated, with a focus on big issues that can be hard to distill down into a quick soundbite. But people's lives are endangered with these headlines./5

Instead of confronting the issues protesters are actually marching for, the news will end up with a collection of articles on whether the protesters have "gone too far" or are "too violent." This can create a false narrative, one that leads to real life harm. /6

So yes, be informed, read up on the issues presented to you, but always be vigilant for false narratives and police perspective. News media is struggling...but they have to do better than this. ~