(I’m filling in for David Shedden, who normally writes “Today in media history.” He’ll return tomorrow.)
On this day four weeks ago, many of us woke to news that the story in Ferguson continued two days after police officer Darren Wilson shot and killed Michael Brown.
Here’s some of the early coverage of Ferguson from Monday, August 11th.
The front page of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch:
The day before, staff at the Post-Dispatch wrote about looting at the Ferguson QuikTrip. While photographing that looting and the fire that followed, photographer David Carson was struck by one protester. Here’s Poynter’s story on Carson from Monday, August 11.
David Carson hid across the street from a gas station in a patch of trees. No one could see him there as he transmitted his first batch of photos from the looting of a QuikTrip back to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. It was just after 10 p.m. on Sunday night. More than 24 hours had passed since police shot and killed teenager Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri.
When he finished, Carson looked around and saw police gathering up the street. He walked back toward the police officers. Things seemed a bit calmer. He made a few photos. Then he heard that the gas station had been set on fire.
I need to get a picture of that, he thought.
At quick trip I'm #ferguson pic.twitter.com/8LBAoD2rMG
— David Carson (@PDPJ) August 11, 2014
St. Louis Public Radio’s Rachel Lippmann also wrote Monday about what happened in Ferguson Sunday night.
Updated at 7 a.m. Monday The situation in Ferguson has settled down following a night of destruction. There is no more systematic looting, but small groups are still casing stores, according to St. Louis County Police spokesman Brian Schellman. “When it happened, it happened very quickly.” Around 300 officers were involved in the response as the violence spread quickly into nearby communities including Jennings and possibly Dellwood. It could turn out to be one of the most violent nights in recent St. Louis history. “I’ve been a policeman for 12 years, all with the St. Louis County Police Department. I haven’t seen anything remotely close,” said Schellman.
Alderman Antonio French, who’s now a well-known name to most of us following the story, posted this video on August 11th:
Also on August 11, Yesha Callahan wrote for The Root about #IfTheyGunnedMeDown.
#IfTheyGunnedMeDown is not only a sad commentary on what it means to be black in America but also shows that in order to have our own narrative correctly reported, we have to do the reporting ourselves.
And Richard Prince wrote for The Maynard Institute about the lack of diversity in newsrooms covering Ferguson.
“Certainly, it is unfortunate that our numbers are not higher in that regard.” Asked to elaborate, (Adam Goodman, St. Louis Post-Dispatch deputy managing editor) said, “In terms of sourcing and getting out in the community and talking to people. It was a dangerous scene last night. It doesn’t matter who it was. Unfortunately it was pretty unpredictable.” But having more black journalists might mean “better ideas on following up, and just in terms of ideas and coverage.”
While many local reporters had been covering the story from Ferguson since Brown’s death (Riverfront Times’ Jessica Lussenhop interviewed Brown’s family the day after his death,) national reporters were arriving, too. The Washington Post’s Wesley Lowery was in Ferguson on Monday, August 11, pre-McDonald’s arrest.
Last photo before phone dies. "Return to your vehicles. Leave or you will be placed under arrest" pic.twitter.com/SpX7l0kjwS
— Wesley Lowery (@WesleyLowery) August 12, 2014
And from The New York Times’ Julie Bosman and Erica Goode: “F.B.I. Steps In Amid Unrest After Police Kill Missouri Youth”
On Monday night, police officers using tear gas and rubber bullets tried to disperse the crowd of mostly African-Americans, who had been gathering through the day under the hot sun. The protesters questioned the role that race — and simmering tensions between residents and the Police Department — may have played in the killing of Michael Brown, 18, who was to start college this week.
On August 11, Bosman tweeted the image below. It was a startling image then but one that soon became familiar from Ferguson.
Chaotic scene in #ferguson pic.twitter.com/PFmLpdGBv1
— Julie Bosman (@juliebosman) August 12, 2014
