Not Falling for Phony News Takes a Lot of Darn Work

In light of the rampant spread of false information these days, the recent National News Literacy Week seems humorously futile. What’s next? Courteous Driving Week? Brussels Sprouts Appreciation Week? News literacy, sometimes called media literacy, means that audiences, not just news organizations and platforms, carry responsibility for stopping distribution of misinformation and disinformation that arise from social media and substandard professional news outlets. (Misinformation means unintentional wrong information; disinformation means wrong information created or shared intentionally to cause mischief, advance a political agenda or make money.) This audience obligation entails evaluating the credibility of statements before choosing to believe them and share them. Read more.

by Tom Arenberg

The Famous Case of the Free Press and the Atomic Bomb

A New York state judge’s order last month prohibiting The New York Times from publishing memos written by a lawyer for the political spying organization Project Veritas blatantly violates the First Amendment. But not every court case seeking to dictate press publishing decisions is as laughably wrong as this one. Take, for instance, the case in which publication might have meant the end of mankind. True story. In 1979, The Progressive, a politically liberal magazine based in Wisconsin that still exists today, planned to publish an article detailing how a hydrogen bomb works. The U.S. government went to court to try to prevent publication. It’s a notable case in the legal history of prior restraint. Read more.

by Tom Arenberg

Best of BirminghamWatch 2021

BirminghamWatch this week is revisiting its best and most popular work from 2021 in a series of packages on Race and Hate Crime, the COVID-19 Pandemic and Politics. COVID-19

Alabama Population Shrinks Under Weight of COVID-19 Deaths

March 11, 2020: The Day COVID-19 Became Real for America, and What’s Happened Since

Schools Opening Short on Teachers Because of an Increase in Retirements

Federal COVID Relief Funds Enabled Churches and Other Religious Organizations to Pay Employees

Race and Hate Crime

Lady Justice Is Not Wearing a Blindfold

Alabama is Home to 20 Hate Groups, 838 Operate Nationwide, SPLC Says

A Lack of Hate or Lack of Reporting?: Alabama Has Reported Zero Hate Crimes in the Past Two Years

Politics

Woodfin Reelected Birmingham Mayor in Landslide

‘For everything there is a season’: Richard Shelby Declines Senate Reelection Run in 2022

Mt Brook Donations to Britt for Senate Signal Views from the GOP’s Business Wing

Sewell, Alabama’s Lone Congressional Democrat, Seeks to Strengthen Voting Rights, Defeat Party Infighting

by BirminghamWatch

BirminghamWatch’s Best of 2021: COVID-19

Alabama Population Shrinks Under Weight of COVID-19 Deaths

For the first time in the history of Alabama, COVID-19 last year pushed the state’s death rate higher than the birthrate. “The state population is shrinking, and we have never seen that happen before in the history of Alabama,” Alabama State Health Officer Dr. Scott Harris said Wednesday. In fact, more people died in Alabama last year than any other year on record. The Alabama Department of Public Health reports that 7,181 people died from COVID-19 last year. So far this year, there have been 5,603 COVID deaths, according to the ADPH. The combined number of deaths from COVID for 2020 and 2021 reported Wednesday is 12,784. The Public Affairs Research Council of Alabama stated in a report earlier this year that, if earlier Census estimates were accurate, “The trend of deaths exceeding births in Alabama will happen again in 2021.” Read more. More Best of BirminghamWatch 2021

March 11, 2020: The Day COVID-19 Became Real for America, and What’s Happened Since

Schools Opening Short on Teachers Because of an Increase in Retirements

Federal COVID Relief Funds Enabled Churches and Other Religious Organizations to Pay Employees

by BirminghamWatch

Best of BirminghamWatch 2021: Politics

‘For everything there is a season’: Richard Shelby Declines Senate Reelection Run in 2022

Sen. Richard Shelby, who has represented Alabama in the United States Congress since 1979 and in the Senate since 1987, has decided that his sixth and current term will be his last. Shelby made the announcement on the Senate floor Monday and released it through his official Senate website. It was a call that many political observers in Alabama had expected when the Democrats took the majority after winning Georgia’s two Senate seats in runoff elections early in January. “For everything there is a season,” Shelby said to begin his speech. “I have done my best to address challenges and find ways to improve the day-to-day lives of all Americans. I have also focused on the economic challenges of Alabamians, increasing access to education and promoting facilities to improve the quality of schools. “I have worked to enhance Alabama’s role in space exploration and the security of our nation. Further, I have supported the utilization of Alabama’s greatest resources, including its unparalleled river system and the Port of Mobile.” As the chairman of the powerful Appropriations Committee, Shelby used his political muscle to steer federal funds to his home state. Recently, he has used his influence to try to move the U.S. Space Command headquarters to Huntsville. But the GOP loss of the majority cost Shelby his role as chairman of the committee, and much of the influence that goes with it. Over his six terms, Shelby has served as either chairman or vice chairman — depending on which party held the majority at the time — of the Appropriations, Rules, Banking and Intelligence committees. Read more. More Best of BirminghamWatch 2021

Woodfin Reelected Birmingham Mayor in Landslide

Mt Brook Donations to Britt for Senate Signal Views from the GOP’s Business Wing

Sewell, Alabama’s Lone Congressional Democrat, Seeks to Strengthen Voting Rights, Defeat Party Infighting

by BirminghamWatch

Best of BirminghamWatch 2021: Race and Hate Crimes

Lady Justice Is Not Wearing a Blindfold

In 1996, Jerald Sanders, a Black man and resident of Alabama, used his pocket knife to tear a hole in a front porch screen so he could steal a bicycle stored inside. When apprehended a few weeks later, Sanders was charged with burglary in the first degree, a Class C felony. Because Sanders had multiple prior offenses on his record, his sentence was pushed to life in prison without parole. A Class C felony often results in a fine or minimal jail time. Sanders’ story is not rare. Black men are sentenced to prison time that reflects not only the crime for which they are being sentenced, but for their entire criminal history. According to statistics from the Sentencing Project, Blacks are incarcerated at more than five times the rate of whites. Read more.

Alabama is Home to 20 Hate Groups, 838 Operate Nationwide, SPLC Says

Twenty Alabama groups have been categorized as hate groups by the Southern Poverty Law Center among 838 nationwide. Read more.

A Lack of Hate or Lack of Reporting?: Alabama Has Reported Zero Hate Crimes in the Past Two Years

On April 9, 2020, the Etz Chayim Synagogue in Huntsville was defaced with antisemitic graffiti. The following day, the Chabad of Huntsville was vandalized with similar hate speech. Security footage taken from both scenes indicates the same perpetrator committed both crimes. Given that they took place on the first night of the Jewish holiday Passover, the crimes are thought to be meticulously planned and executed with one purpose: to send a message of hate to the Jewish community. Mayor Tommy Battle released a statement to the public saying “the city of Huntsville condemns antisemitism in the strongest possible terms” and emphasized Huntsville as a city of inclusivity and acceptance. “Any offense against one is an offense against all,” Battle said. The case has since been handed over to the FBI, and no perpetrator has been caught. Despite these attacks against the Jewish community the state of Alabama has reported zero hate crimes to the FBI’s annual Unified Crime Report for the past two years in a row. It is the only state in the country that has reported zero hate crimes. “It is highly implausible that in 2019 or 2018, no hate crimes were committed in Alabama. Of the over 417 law enforcement agencies in the state, only two actually participated in the 2019 reporting process to the FBI, which is deeply troubling and undoubtedly means that many hate crimes have gone unreported,” said Dr. Allison Padilla-Goodman, vice president of the Anti-Defamation League’s Southern Division. >Read more.

by Michelle Love

Wishing you a safe and happy holiday!

by From BirminghamWatch

One News Media Bias That Isn’t Debatable

The innocent, young, attractive, white woman was missing, and presumably dead, the victim of homicide. Local and national media pounded the story with daily coverage. This is, of course, the case of Gabby Petito. And Mollie Tibbetts. And Natalee Holloway. And Chandra Levy. And others. The equivalent case of a missing Black woman? Couldn’t find one. HBO is currently showing a documentary series called “Black and Missing.” It features the founders of the Black and Missing Foundation and makes the basic point that news media and law enforcement pay more attention to missing white people, especially females, than to missing Black people. Sociologists and media often call this Missing White Woman Syndrome. Read more.

by Tom Arenberg

After Mass Shootings, Public Safety and Good Journalism Collide

In the aftermath of the fatal shootings at Oxford (Michigan) High School last week, CNN’s Anderson Cooper continued his practice of recent years of not reporting the name of the shooter. This is becoming an increasingly popular editorial decision among news media. The main reason for this is that, according to research and anecdotal evidence, most mass shooters commit their acts in large part to gain notoriety. Further, there’s evidence that fame for one mass shooter can motivate future ones. But naming the shooter can serve a public benefit, as well. Read more.

by Tom Arenberg

Sin and Confession: Newsrooms Revisit Some Major Failures

The Washington Post on Nov. 12 took the highly unusual step of overhauling two articles that had been posted on its website since 2017 and 2019, respectively. Recent events had suddenly called into question the accuracy of the articles, which reported on the identity of a confidential source who supposedly contributed salacious information about Donald Trump that was contained in the infamous and since discredited “Steele dossier.” The Post removed large portions of the articles, changed the headlines, removed a companion video, and appended editor’s notes. About a dozen other, related stories were corrected, as well. The Post’s editor offered public explanations on various platforms. This got me to thinking about previous famous situations in which a news organization belatedly found fault with its coverage of a high-profile subject and decided it needed to take corrective action. Read more.

by Tom Arenberg