Online Journalism in a Digital World - Tornado takes 51, 41, then 24

Yesterday, Monday May 20th, 2013, marked what many feared was the worst tornado (devastation-wise) in recent memory. It hit Moore, Oklahoma, a suburb of Norman. Reports initially reported that the tornado hit some elementary schools somewhere around 3pm CST, and that there were children present. The death toll was reported at 51 (including at least 20 children) for the longest time, even as rescue and recovery efforts continued into the night. Just before I went to bed, after 11pm, CNN reported that the death toll was raised by 40, to 91 people dead. The next day when I came into my office, I went online to check, and lo and behold - this death toll number has been revised to 24. Local officials have cited chaos, double counting and other explanations for the inaccuracies.

Media Bias Blog - Cleveland Article about Charles Ramsey

As I prepare for the Fall term and provide examples (for my students) of selective media bias in reporting, I noticed one instance today that falls directly into the category of "deliberately edited" or censored. There was this instance in May 2013 (remember, I am writing this to show to my Fall 2013 class) where one Cleveland station that pulled the story about the criminal past of Charles Ramsey, the man who aided in the escape of Amanda Berry from her "imprisonment", leading to the rescue of two other kidnap victims (Gina DeJesus and Michelle Knight) as well. When the station was "bombarded" with complaints about the online story, they invariably pulled it. It seems that most felt it was inappropriate, or possibly too soon to be addressing any "inadequacies" concerning the man who had assisted Berry. The public (and the media) have postured him as a "hero", and the public did not want to hear any negative commentary about him (just yet). WEWS-TV's action is an example of media bias prompted by pressure from its online audience, the users that visited their web site. Throughout the earlier part of the week, the media were also "struggling" with reportage concerning Michelle Knight, as it appears her abduction had been selectively ignored by both the police and the media - I am sure this was based on her age at the time, as she was an adult (20 years old) when reported missing, as opposed to 14 and 16 for the other two victims. Of course now it didn't matter...all three deserved the same coverage - but they didn't have pictures of her available, as well as a very limited amount of background information, as was accessible for the other two; media bias in the past, when covering the different kidnappings...and assuming Knight's instance was not one.

Media Bias and Coverage: Profiting from Wounded Knee

It is a sad testimonial to the state of affairs in America, as well as to America itself, when someone seeks to profit in a manner such as this. Wounded Knee has historical value, and the site of the massacre should not become a "tourist trap" (which is what I am guessing those bidding on the two parcels are contemplating doing with it). The American Indians would indeed suffer more indignation of the unimaginable variety, if this were allowed to occur. Perhaps this represents an article where media bias is possibly unavoidable?