The mocking of Jay Kolls and KSTP-TV over Twitter's #pointergate continued Sunday on "Reliable Sources," the CNN program that holds media accountable.
"Coming up, an outrageous one. It's about one local TV station and why they should be embarrassed about their coverage of this picture," said host Brian Stelter, setting up the discussion of KSTP's "example of shoddy journalism. And it begins with this question: Did the mayor of Minneapolis really flash a gang sign on camera? You might think so if you had watched this newscast."
Stelter showed viewers the intro of Kolls' piece about the photo claiming Mayor Betsy Hodges was swapping gang signs with Navell Gordon, who has a criminal record, in the presence of Police Chief Janeé Harteau. In the intro, KSTP anchor Bill Lunn intoned, "It's a story you'll see only on 5."
It's a story, I'd argue, that needed the judgment of KSTP news director Lindsay Radford. My information is that Radford was on maternity leave when this beauty sailed through.
"It's a story you'll see only on 5 because, I'd argue, it's not a story at all," Stelter told viewers. "Here is the key part: They were just pointing at each other, and it's obvious. Here's what the story is really about. … The mayor says she thinks the head of the police union is trying to discredit her reforms. KSTP is not backing down. They said they spent days properly vetting the story and accurately reported what they were being told by the police. What happened here is serious. It's about reporting and also about race. "
Kolls didn't respond to Stelter's tweeted interview request, so Stelter hashed out the story's problems with CNN contributors Errol Louis, host of NY1 and director of the urban reporting program at the City University of New York's journalism school, and Marc Lamont Hill, a HuffPost Live host and professor of African-American studies at Morehouse College.
Louis: "People get a story in their head, and if they are going to be lazy about it, and laziness is basically a species of unprofessional behavior, you just go ahead and run with it. … I thought this was comedy, frankly. I thought this was a Dave Chappelle skit, come back to life. … [Tripling down] is the worst sin. Anybody can get a story wrong. But the trust with the viewers is broken when confronted with an obvious problem."
Hill: "I don't know if it's deliberate. The point is it was so easy to believe this story. … There is still the tendency to find the lowest common denominator when we speak about certain types of people in the media."
When Stelter thanked them at the end, Hill said, "You're welcome," and pointed; Louis pointed, too, and before the camera cut away, Stelter was pointing back.
In a photo on Twitter of "Today Show" weatherman Al Roker during his Guinness World Record-setting #rokerthon, Stelter is seen pointing his finger in what looks like a nod to #pointergate.
Keeping the Dome on hand(s)
That Dome roof washed up beautifully!
Among the products that Steller Handcrafted Goods designer Julie Steller is selling these days are mittens with a piece of Dome history sewn onto them.
Steller bought yards of fabric, cut it into circles and embroidered it with an image of the Dome and the words "HHH Metrodome Roof" that were sewn onto $44 mittens.
Over the weekend at Northern Grade, a market for the best USA-made goods, Steller was regaling customers with the story of how she cleaned enormous sections of Dome roof.
"At the Laundromat on Franklin Avenue. I could shove two pieces in at a time," said Steller.
In addition to the mittens, there are pieces of the Dome in $24 leather key fobs crafted with the help of my friends at St. Paul's Leather Works MN. See stellergoods.com.
Beatles photog back home
Rock photographer Rob Shanahan tells me he's returning to his native state to promote his book of photography featuring Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr.
The Dec. 11 event at the Minneapolis College of Art and Design starts at 6:30 p.m.
One of these day, s Shanahan is going to bring Starr to an event, thus proving they really are pals.
C.J. can be reached at cj@startribune.com and seen on Fox 9's "Buzz." E-mailers, please state a subject; "Hello" does not count. Attachments are not opened.
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