Race and Reporting
There’s something that has bothered me for a while and after reading about 5 students being shot at Duquesne University — my alma mater — after an on-campus party, I have to get this off my chest.
The incident at Duquesne was sponsored by the Black Student Union, so who does KDKA send to the campus to report on it? John Cater, who just so happens to be black. Did they purposely send him to cover the story since the victims are black, the alleged shooter is black and the event itself was sponsored by a group of black students?
And trust me, it’s not just KDKA that does this. Countless times I have watched WTAE and WPXI and saw black reporters in black neighborhoods and white reporters in white neighborhoods? Why is this? Can’t a white reporter cover a story in Homewood? Can’t a black reporter give me the news from Squirrel Hill?
I’d really like to sit down with the people that make the decisions at the local TV stations and ask them why they all insist on sending people into neighborhoods inhabited by people of their own race. To me, news in news and I can’t think of any good reason why the race of the reporter is even considered when someone is assigned to cover a story.
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