NRO
"The generally abysmal media coverage of the Ferguson tragedy has raised one major question among those of us who once practiced the journalistic trade: Doesn’t anybody cover the cop shop any more?
"It was clear from much of the coverage that few of those assigned to the story knew very much about the law, and that they knew even less about how cops do their jobs. Time was, every genuine news organization had at least one often-grizzled and highly cynical veteran of covering the police beat, who would have suggested that it might not be good or accurate to refer to someone caught on camera pulling a strong-arm robbery as a “gentle giant.”
...
"Policemen and old police reporters have a saying about someone whose actions result in his own demise: He bought his ticket. As sad as it is, the person most responsible for Michael Brown’s death was and is Michael Brown. It’s a shame there were no tough old police reporters in Ferguson to see that."
"It was clear from much of the coverage that few of those assigned to the story knew very much about the law, and that they knew even less about how cops do their jobs. Time was, every genuine news organization had at least one often-grizzled and highly cynical veteran of covering the police beat, who would have suggested that it might not be good or accurate to refer to someone caught on camera pulling a strong-arm robbery as a “gentle giant.”
...
"Policemen and old police reporters have a saying about someone whose actions result in his own demise: He bought his ticket. As sad as it is, the person most responsible for Michael Brown’s death was and is Michael Brown. It’s a shame there were no tough old police reporters in Ferguson to see that."