Perilous times call for the participation of all

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This is a precarious time for our country.

The past week in Minneapolis has been a powder keg following the shooting death of  mother and poet, Renee Nicole Good, by an ICE agent last week during an immigration enforcement operation.

Before and since we’ve seen other examples of ICE using questionable tactics. We’ve actually seen them because there are videos of these dramatic moments, many of them taken by citizens using their cellphones.

In a televised address this week, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz said, “You have an absolute right to peacefully film ICE agents as they conduct their activities. So carry your phone with you at all times. And if you see ICE in your neighborhood, take out that phone and hit record. Help us create a database of the atrocities against Minnesotans — not just to establish a record for posterity, but to bank evidence for future prosecution.”

Minnesota isn’t the only place where ICE is conducting searches.

My colleague, Kelly McBride, Poynter’s Senior Vice President and Chair of Craig Newmark Center for Ethics and Leadership, has a must-read new piece out: “This moment will be defined by what we choose to record.”

McBride writes, “The public should assume responsibility for creating an accurate record of what’s happening. It’s a big job that requires participation from all of civil society, including the local press, religious and community groups, librarians and teachers. Everyone. In every city. This is not an act of protest. It is record-keeping. There will come a time when people will want to know what it was like to be here, now. What was it like to work in a food truck or at a Home Depot when federal agents showed up? What was it like to be randomly stopped or followed on the sidewalk while walking home from a store? What’s it like for Native Americans to be accused by ICE of being undocumented?”

McBride adds, “Local press plays a particularly important role, serving as the place where this evidence can be verified, published and preserved. Because it’s not possible today to see a comprehensive picture of all of the arrests, all of the confrontations, all of the actions done in the name of federal immigration enforcement. But that is exactly what we need if we are to truly understand this moment. There’s a real risk of fatigue, of growing weary of both taking and looking at these images. So many photos and videos feature familiar scenes: clusters of masked men in military uniforms hauling defeated and sometimes injured people into cars. It’s tempting to believe that similar images are repetitive and therefore not as valuable.”

McBride continued, “But the scale of this story is the story. It’s not just that it’s happening in a few places. Every local newsroom in the country has documented examples of federal agencies making arrests. They must keep doing that.”

I encourage you to read McBride’s column in its entirety.

I had a chance to ask McBride about her piece. Here is our conversation:

Tom Jones: Was there a specific moment or image that made it click for you that this documentation gap was becoming dangerous and that reacting in alarm just wasn’t enough anymore?

Kelly McBride: Yes, it's been two moments. Normally, when a cop kills someone, the department makes a show of doing an independent review. But the feds aren't even pretending to do a legitimate review of the fatal shooting of Renee Good by ICE agent Jonathan Ross. Then I read this Los Angeles Times story about a man who was fatally shot on New Year's Eve by an off-duty ICE agent. No video has surfaced (yet). And the shooter has not been charged, a fact that raises serious questions about accountability when federal officers are involved. It's apparent that accountability will not come for years, if ever. And I started thinking about other moments where powerful figures were allowed to abuse their power without any restraint.

Jones: What role do you think local journalists are uniquely positioned to play in this moment that national outlets can’t?

McBride: Local news is better positioned to add context. National news tends to distribute the most dramatic moments. But it's just as important to see the nondramatic moments. I love how MPR is adding additional context to citizen videos by interviewing the people who took the videos. Everyone is so Minnesota normal in those videos; it drives it home that these aren't radical activists from out of town.

Jones: If this moment isn’t thoroughly documented, what do you think the country loses or misunderstands later on?

McBride: When we look back on this in 20 years, it will be hard to convey just how scary and widespread the federal show of force actually is. It will be hard to convey just how unaccountable these agents are, how they are accountable to no one. Also, it will be difficult to describe just how many people are going along with it, including the agents themselves, local law enforcement who, in many places, are actively supporting ICE or looking the other way when serious legal and constitutional questions are raised, and the many, many politicians who are defending or excusing the behavior of the federal officers.

Check it out

In an article free to all readers, The Minnesota Star Tribune editorial board writes “Minnesota is under siege. This cannot stand.”

Minneapolis, in particular, has experienced unrest before — most notably, following the 2020 murder of George Floyd by Minneapolis police officer, Derek Chauvin.

The board wrote, “That is not what Minnesotans are currently experiencing. What we are witnessing is the storming of the state by the federal government.”

The board continued, “Immigration enforcement in the U.S. is not going away, nor should it. But enforcement carried out without restraint, transparency or proportionality does not strengthen the rule of law. It corrodes it.”

Because ICE is unlikely to be abolished, the Star Tribune board is calling for it to be at a minimum, reformed. Who would argue with that after what we’ve seen in recent weeks and months?

The board writes, “Independent review, transparent reporting and real consequences for misconduct are essential to restoring trust. ICE should meet the same standards expected of other police agencies, especially as it relates to the identification of agents and use-of-force guidelines.”

There’s much more to this thoughtful editorial — which is a perfect example of why local editorials still play an important role for newspapers.

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Enter now

Leavitt’s meltdown

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt had an unprofessional meltdown while scolding Niall Stanage, a reporter for The Hill, on Thursday. Stanage was asking Leavitt about the questionable tactics of ICE agents across the country, including the shooting death of Good in Minneapolis last week.

Stanage said, “You were just defending ICE agents generally, and earlier on Secretary Noem spoke to the media and she said among other things that they are doing everything correctly. Thirty-two people died in ICE custody last year, 170 U.S. citizens were detained by ICE, and Renee Good was shot in the head and killed by an ICE agent. How does that equate to them doing everything correctly?”

Leavitt then turned the question back into a question of her own, asking Stanage, “Why was Renee Good unfortunately and tragically killed?”

Stanage responded by saying, “Are you asking me my opinion? Because an ICE agent acted recklessly and killed her unjustifiably.”

Instead of professionally giving the stance of the administration in regards to ICE, Leavitt lost her cool and showed hers and the administration’s true colors.

Leavitt snapped, “Oh, okay, so you’re a biased reporter with a left-wing opinion.”

She was just getting started.

Leavitt continued by saying, “Yeah, because you're a left-wing hack! You’re not a reporter, you’re posing in this room as a journalist, and it’s so clear by the premise of your question. And you and the people in the media who have such biases, but fake like you’re journalists, you shouldn’t even be sitting in that seat. But you’re pretending like you’re a journalist, but you’re a left-wing activist, and the question that you just raised and your answer proves your bias.

“You should be reporting on the facts. You should be reporting on cases. Do you have the numbers of how many American citizens were killed at the hands of illegal aliens who ICE is trying to remove from this country? I bet you don’t. I bet you didn’t even read up on those stories. I bet you never even read about Laken Riley, or Jocelyn Nungaray, or all of the innocent Americans who were killed at the hands of illegal aliens in this country. And the brave men and women of ICE are doing everything in their power to remove those heinous individuals and make our communities safer. And shame on people like you in the media who have a crooked view, and have a biased view, and pretend like you’re a real honest journalist.”

Stanage is a legitimate reporter from a legitimate news organization asking a legitimate question about ICE. He set up his question with facts. Instead of taking great care during this delicate time in our nation to respectfully and credibly explain the position of the Trump administration, Leavitt chose to go on a vicious attack simply because she didn’t like the exchange. In the end, her tirade said more about her and the administration she works for than the media member trying to get answers for a county that is demanding them.

A grim new reality

One day after the FBI executed a search warrant on the home of a Washington Post reporter, the Post’s Sarah Ellison, Patrick Marley and Colby Itkowitz wrote, “Journalists confront new reality in reporting after FBI raid.”

On Wednesday, the FBI searched the home of Post reporter Hannah Natanson. They seized her phone and two laptops — one of which was issued by the Post and another that was her own personal computer. They also took her Garmin watch. Investigators told Natanson that she is not the focus of the investigation. The warrant said law enforcement is investigating a system administrator who has a top-secret security clearance and has been accused of accessing and taking home classified intelligence reports.

Regardless of the target of the FBI’s investigation, raiding the home of a journalist sends a chilling message.

As the latest Post story says: “Many journalists said they saw the FBI raid as a jarring new step aimed at limiting news organizations’ ability to gather information that the government does not want to be made public.”

The Post story added, “Under previous administrations, reporters have been subpoenaed for information, and such actions are usually challenged in court. But raiding a reporter’s home early in the morning — a more intrusive step that limits the ability for a court challenge — is exceedingly unusual if not unprecedented, according to Gabe Rottman, an attorney and vice president of policy for the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, who said he could think of no comparable examples.”

David McCraw, senior vice president and deputy general counsel for the New York Times, told the Post, “The reports of FBI agents raiding the home of a journalist and seizing her electronic devices are deeply concerning and portray a stark threat to free press rights in this country. Actions like this inevitably impede reporters’ ability to gather news in the public interest and as a result make the government less accountable. When you’re talking about reporting on the military or the intelligence agencies or foreign affairs or federal law enforcement, it’s often necessary for reporters to rely on assurances of confidentiality to sources in order to get information in the public interest out.”

One veteran journalist who covers sensitive stories told the Post, “I have been concerned for a long time — years actually — about exactly this, FBI agents knocking on my door or that of other reporters and seizing our devices.”

Now under the Trump administration, that fear has become a reality.

Media news, tidbits and interesting links for your weekend review

• David Shipley, who resigned as opinion editor of The Washington Post last February after Post owner Jeff Bezos rebooted the editorial pages to focus on personal liberties and free markets, is joining The New York Times as an editor at large. Shipley previously worked at the Times, as well Bloomberg View and The New Republic. He also served in the Clinton administration as a special assistant to the president and senior presidential speechwriter. Here’s the Times’ official announcement.
• The Hollywood Reporter’s Alex Weprin with “The Fight For Warner Bros. May Get Uglier.”
• And here’s The Wall Street Journal’s Lauren Thomas with “Warner Discovery Doesn’t Need to Disclose Netflix Deal Details, Judge Rules.”
• NewsNation’s Katie Pavlich, the former Fox News commentator, will debut a new weeknight show on NewsNation on Monday at 10 p.m. Eastern. Her second show, on Tuesday, will feature an interview with President Donald Trump. The interview, which will take place at the White House, comes on the one-year anniversary of Trump taking office for the second time.
• Politico’s Cheyanne M. Daniels with “Defense Department to overhaul military newspaper Stars and Stripes.”
• Nieman Lab’s Joshua Benton with “After 25 years, Wikipedia has proved that news doesn’t need to look like news.”
• David Kraft, who has been an important executive at ESPN for 30 years, will retire as Vice President of News in April. He has been in that spot since 2021, having previously served as the senior director and executive editor of ESPN’s news operations since 2015. Here’s more from ESPN.
• Semafor’s Max Tani with “Politico announces layoffs, new product.”
• Also, The Wrap’s Corbin Bolies with “Politico’s John Harris Moves Into Chairman Role, Search Begins for New Editor in Chief.”
• Here’s a smart column on Awful Announcing from Demetri Ravanos: “Stephen A. Smith and Pat McAfee typify sports media in the age of poptimism.”
• This is for Los Angeles Times subscribers only, but it’s really fun: “The 101 best Los Angeles movies.” And I have to say, usually lists like these stir up angry debate over omissions and placement — I mean, debate is kind of the point of lists. But I have no notes or complaints for this well-thought-out piece.
• Speaking of movies, it’s awards season for films. Here’s New York Times’ pop culture reporter Kyle Buchanan with “The Art of a Good Awards-Show Speech.” 

More resources for journalists

• Media leaders: Amplify your managerial strengths, navigate ethical decision-making and strategize ahead of difficult conversations. Space is limited. Apply by Jan. 23.
• Join a foundational career and leadership development 101 course — fully virtual for ambitious media professionals without direct reports. Apply now.

Have feedback or a tip? Email Poynter senior media writer Tom Jones at [email protected].

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