Journalist Daniel Thompson walked away from an MSM career with The Kenosha News for their misrepresentation of Jacob Blake’s Rally. In my book, that is a hero.
Daniel Thompson, an ethical former MSM journalist
Daniel was on a short vacation from The Kenosha News. He decided to spend some time at Jacob Blake’s peaceful rally. As he explained in the interview this post the rally was empowering and welcoming to all irrespective of race, culture, or religion.
Daniel was so impressed with the rally and saw such an uplifting atmosphere, that when he saw children of different races just playing and sharing — in a safe manner — he had to grab his camera and post a picture with the caption, “Hate Is Learned” which was in the spirit of what he was seeing.
One Learns Hate
There were many speakers at the event. He said one particular speaker did not belong there as he made one ill-advised comment. It was completely out of context with the spirit of the rally or the desire of the organizers. The New York Times reported the following about the incident.
The headline, which appeared on the Kenosha News website on Saturday, highlighted a remark from one rally participant: “Kenosha speaker: ‘If you kill one of us, it’s time for us to kill one of yours.’” The online version of the article included a 59-second video showing the person who spoke those words, a Black man who was not identified by name.
Mr. Thompson, who joined the paper’s newsroom three years ago, said he found the headline off-base. “The story is about the entire reaction of all the speakers and people in attendance, and that quote is one outlier falling within a flood of positive ones,” he said in an interview.
After resigning, Daniel had a task for his followers. Do the necessary work to mitigate that headline. Don’t leave it out there hanging.
Daniel Thompson is in great company. Both journalist John Nichols and Actor/Activist Mark Ruffalo noticed. And so did Democracy Now!
Please get my new book “It’s Worth It: How to Talk To Your Right-Wing Relatives, Friends, and Neighbors” today knowing you (1) Get communication techniques & (2) Support Progressive message delivery.
Please join our YouTube channel so we can get the numbers up to open up some more features and reach more folks. Gracias!