“As protests erupt in the wake of police brutality, one key point for journalists to remember is that many police agencies have enforced silence on police officers. And that creates an historically fearful secrecy.”
In a column for the SPJ magazine Quill, I remind journalists that in an “SPJ-sponsored 2016 survey, 56% of police reporters said they can rarely or never interview a police officer without involving a department’s public information officer. Another 30% said they can do those interviews only some of the time.”
“If we can’t speak with police officers without censors, we aren’t ‘there.’ We are marginalized. And that marginalizes the public.”
The full column is here.
In a column for the SPJ magazine Quill, I remind journalists that in an “SPJ-sponsored 2016 survey, 56% of police reporters said they can rarely or never interview a police officer without involving a department’s public information officer. Another 30% said they can do those interviews only some of the time.”
“If we can’t speak with police officers without censors, we aren’t ‘there.’ We are marginalized. And that marginalizes the public.”
The full column is here.
