How about truth, integrity and consistency in news reporting?
I’ve lived in San Jose for all 30 years of my life. Born, educated and employed in San Jose. I’ve enjoyed living here (with some ups and downs) and have no immediate plans to leave. In my 30 years, I’ve read thousands and thousands of San Jose Mercury News articles spanning the Knight-Ridder era to the brief McClatchy ownership to the current MediaNews (aka Bay Area News Group) ownership. There have been excellent news stories and stories about the news. Lately though I’ve noticed a lot more of the latter.
I don’t know what it is but over the last three years I’ve seen a rise in articles that are biased against San Jose police. While there have been officers “spotlighted” for their accomplishments on and off duty (one recent article was about two officers taking enforcement action 20,000 feet in the air), the majority of the stories have been negative (use of force, public intoxication, retirement benefits, etc). The overwhelming majority of negative stories are about racial profiling.
I find it insulting when people make racial accusations as soon as they are stopped. People never pause to think, “Why is this officer stopping me? Was I supposed to stop back there? Is my music too loud?” or maybe, “Is my tail light out… again? I thought I sent in my registration yesterday… Oh crap, here’s the envelope…” Nope, some people jump straight to the racial difference between us. I’ve heard the “You only stopped me ‘cause I’m (insert non-white race)!” rationale more than I care to say. (The fact that I’m Hispanic doesn’t seem to matter because, in their eyes, I’m no longer Hispanic once I put on the uniform.)
To those who have used that rationale or plan to continue using it, all I have to say is, “Oh really?” I guess it doesn’t matter that I was behind you when you ran that red light or rolled through that stop sign. Or that I could hear and feel your music from half a city block away. Or that I noticed your tail lights are out or your vehicle registration is expired. Or that I can see that you are driving an otherwise clean car that happens to have “limo-tint” on all windows. You insist that I stopped you only because you are (insert non-white race), even though I can’t see inside your car and was behind you the entire time. As I walk up to your car, I only know that there is one person (you, the driver) in the car. I don’t know who else is in there or if they have a gun pointed at my head since the windows are tinted.
I’ve been in law enforcement for seven and a half years with the first five and a half spent on patrol, and I can tell you that the San Jose Police Department employs a diverse group of officers. Our officers are Caucasian, Hispanic, Asian, Pacific Islander, African-American, Middle Eastern. You name it, we have it, from Sergeants to Lieutenants, Captains to former Chiefs of Police. To say that SJPD is plagued with officers who enforce the law based solely on a person’s real or perceived ethnicity, as the Mercury News seems to suggest, is a complete insult. In this case, the Mercury News is also neglecting to acknowledge its own past reports.
In February 2007, the Mercury News published a front-page article about the perceived racial profiling behavior of the SJPD. The article was seven months in the making. What was the Mercury News’ conclusion? Its own reporters found no evidence of racial profiling by SJPD. NONE!
Don’t believe me? Here’s a word-for-word excerpt from the article:
“To move beyond the rhetoric, Mercury News Reporters fanned out across downtown on selected weekends during a seven-month-period, delving into the city’s nightlife from the perspectives of the police, clubs, and customers. In more than 100 hours on the streets, they did not witness racial profiling.”
- James Hohmann, Rodney Foo, Marian Liu and Leslie Griffy
San Jose Mercury News, February 17, 2007
So, what gives? Why does the Mercury News continue to publish stories about racist cops intimidating the public (i.e. minorities)? Why do they continue to suggest that the high number of minorities arrested by SJPD is a problem of racial profiling?
Apparently, the Mercury News has forgotten what its own people have seen (or in this case, not seen) with regards to the current accusations against the San Jose Police Department.
Francisco J. Hernandez is a San Jose Police Officer.
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It must be because the Merc reporters are racilally biased in their own right. Maybe there isn't enough diversity in their news reporting staff to effectively cover stories on all ethnicities. With the constant slant in news fabrication, I wouldn't be suprised if the real racists were employed there!
ReplyDeleteBut in their own right,it takes a big person to admit how small they really are. That being said, you'll never see an apology from a tabloid reporter. If he/she stirrs the pot and gets papers sold, then the task is complete! But nobody in there right mind takes them seroiusly anyways. The "cry wolf" technique sells papers, but in my experience, hasn't changed the publics true perceptions of the members of this department.
Glad to see this column. There are a number of reasons why people pull the race card when stopped.
ReplyDeleteOne is that the older generation has instilled how badly they were treated in their day, and the younger generation passes that belief down to their children. Hence the younger generation uses as a way to get out of trouble, rather than looking at the way things have changed. Many of the older generation is still hanging on to some serious anger from the past, so you’ll never win with most of them.
O.J. Simpson used the race card successfully so hell, why not others? After all, O.J. is, and I don’t know why, a hero, and icon to many. If he can get a way with murder, high-speed chases, why can’t other minorities?
Grant is doing it too, but thankfully the PD stood up for themselves, neighbors spoke up, and the 911 tape bared the Officer out that Grant was being uncooperative. We forget, our youth learn from us, hence the old saying, “The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.”
Another reason I believe this happens is that college/high school students are being taught in school to take pride in their heritage, and they are also taught the history of oppression of cultures prior to the passing of Civil Rights. Police Officers did beat you bloody in those days, regardless of your racial back ground back then. They’d shoot you rather than look at you! But times, thank God, have changed dramatically.
Our society’s morals and ethics have decayed and are decaying. Youth aren’t being taught integrity, the rewards of hard work, and accountability. Their heroes are Paris Hilton, Brody Jennier, and Michael Jackson I mean come on. We had Martin Luther King Jr., J.F.K, and other greats.
One final thing is that laws have changed so much so that parents are afraid to punish their kids. And with one head of house hold, usually Mothers who work, who is going to oversee proper up bringing 24/7? Hence the rise in gangs, and we all know that they are never guilty of anything, even after being convicted by a jury of their peers. ;-)
I think it's well-known that the Merc is not diverse when you get into the editorial ranks. The paper never shines a light upon itself. Hey maybe someone else (hint, hint) should.
ReplyDeleteThe Murky News only cares about sellin papers. They could care less who they bash as long as it rings up to a sale. Havin this site is important to balance the trash they write every day.
ReplyDeleteThe same thing goes for the Metro. Did you see Pulcrano's lame post on San Jose Inside about why he sells space to sex ads? Ha! Ha! What a loser. He wants consistency for everyone who is helping the sex trade advertise. And you officers wonder why people are so morally bankrupt. If the media and our leaders make excuses for their lack of honesty and integrity why not let everybody do it?
I think you cops have a tough enough job as it is but idiots like the Editor of the Murky News, the Metro, and De Bug make it even worse. The good thing about blogs is that the level the playin field a bit more. You should advertise your blog more so more of us know about you.
Keep fighting back against the BS because more of support you than you think.
Great article and it's about time someone began holding the Merc News accountable for all of their allegations against SJPD. It's really sad that Merc News is turning into a tabloid type newspaper instead of reporting actual news.
ReplyDeleteHa the merc is not turnung into a tabliod it is one. The sad thing is they stopped even trying to report on real news and now just try to keep the lights on anyway they can. It must be tuff to work there knowing that their reporters spent so much time in college just to have to sell their dignity to keep there jobs.The should be the story on why the press once in this nation was so important now they are just cheap bottom liner for my bird cage
ReplyDeletePapers write what sells. They think most of America dislikes the police, so when ever there is an opportunity to smear them they do. In the Gates case they went so far as to say that the woman who called 911 told the dispatcher that it was a couple of black guys breaking into the house(an attempt to make the caller look racist). Copies of the tapes later released showed that the paper's report was false. I never saw a retraction by the paper or by the reporter that wrote the story. Until papers like the Mercury News are held accountable for their false and misleading stories, nothing will change.
ReplyDelete