‘It’s the Demeaning Treatment, but Also the Failure to Take Action’
“It is not too much to ask that we could have intersectional justice in the space where right now we have intersectional oppression.”
‘Crime Is Defined and Constructed by Police and Other Elite Interests’
“Over the course of the last hundred years, police have systematically organized to prevent progressive social change.”
Missing and Murdered People of Color an Afterthought to Gabby Petito’s Case
In the wake of the Petito case, conversations about missing people of color have finally entered the national spotlight.
Alec Karakatsanis on ‘Crime Surge’ Copaganda, Jane Manning on Gender-Based Crime
Media announce a rise in the murder rate with coverage steeped in false presumptions about what that means and how to respond.
Only Those Taking Action Against Climate Violence Are Labeled ‘Terrorist’
Climate disruption is undeniably fatal, and historians will question which political structures prevented humans from responding to it.
‘If Police Made Asian Americans Safe, We’d Already Be Safe’
“To address anti-Asian violence at its roots, the US must reckon with the history of violence in our immigration policies, and the wars across Asia.”
Shoplifting Is Big News; Stealing Millions From Workers Is Not
Media have demonstrated that the question isn’t how much is being stolen, but who it is being stolen from.
The Thin Blue Lies Behind Crime Wave Hype
Right-leaning media have used the uptick in certain crime categories to argue we need more cops and law enforcement to save our cities.
Tabloids Want Crime, Not Rent, on NYC Voters’ Minds
New York City’s two big tabloid dailies gave far more coverage to crime than to the affordable housing crisis in the past year.
Atlanta Murders Reporting Relied on Law Enforcement Narratives
At local and national levels, the initial media response focused primarily on the gunman’s story and police statements.
‘These Executions, Disturbing as They Are, Have Flown Largely Under the Radar’
“Family members of the condemned are often erased and have been, for the most part, throughout this process, and I try to really keep that at the center of my work.”
Liliana Segura on Trump’s Execution Spree, Gaurav Laroia on Ajit Pai’s FCC
As with many aspects of his presidency, the execution spree is both Trump being especially gruesome, and his simply making use of a gruesome machinery he certainly didn’t create.
Neil deMause on Reopening Coverage, Nicole Porter on Covid and Prisons
More thoughtful attention to the “how” of re-opening is necessary, but for that, you’d need to listen to people who actually know—and care—rather than constantly handing the mic to Mr. “It Is What It Is.”
National Media Promote ‘Progressive’ Baltimore Prosecutor, Ignoring Local and Alternative Exposés
While national corporate media outlets have offered Baltimore State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby a wide platform to brand herself as a progressive prosecutor, local and independent media have been publishing reports that challenge her office’s record in practice.
‘We Should Be Committed to Decriminalizing if We Want to Help Communities of Color’
“I think this bill really does fail to imagine what public safety could look like. That’s our biggest problem with it. They’re not listening to people on the ground.”
‘The People Capturing Police Violence on Video Are the Ones Enhancing Public Safety’
“More people are coming to consider that racist policing cannot be ‘reformed’ with an occasional lawsuit and some implicit-bias classes. CounterSpin has had unfortunate occasion to discuss the issue many times.”
Alex Vitale, Chase Madar and Shahid Buttar on Racist Policing
More people are coming to consider that racist policing cannot be “reformed” with an occasional lawsuit and some implicit-bias classes. CounterSpin has had unfortunate occasion to discuss the issue many times.
Media Smeared Ahmaud Arbery After His Lynching
While it took two and a half months for the authorities to finally make arrests in the killing of Ahmaud Arbery, corporate media were much quicker to follow the time-honored practice of besmirching victims of racist violence.
Morningside Case Shows Media Learned Few Lessons From Exonerated Five
Many Americans now recognize the racism at multiple junctures of the criminal punishment system. Especially now, as our leaders refuse to release the disproportionately black and brown incarcerated people from prisons and jails, despite their being sites of serious COVID-19 outbreaks across the country. But even before the pandemic, some media have played a […]
‘What Does Criminalizing People Get Us, and What Does It Get Them?’
“The question then shifts from, ‘How can the “law and order” approach address or eradicate sex work?’ to ‘How are resources divided up in our societies, and why are people trading sex for survival?’”
