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Being pro-police

Debate and discussion of current events and political issues across the U.S. and throughout the World. Be forewarned -- this forum is NOT for the intellectually weak or those of you with thin skins. Don't come crying to me if you become the subject of ridicule. **Board Administrator reserves the right to revoke posting privileges based on my sole discretion**
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craig11152
Posts: 2201
Joined: Tue Nov 06, 2007 8:15 am
Location: Ann Arbor

Re: Being pro-police

Unread post by craig11152 »

lovinlife101 wrote: There are bad cops and bad departments too, but you won't find those stories here.
Are you having a hard time finding "bad cop" stories? I can help you out.
I no longer directly engage Rate This :lol
JackAttack FM
Posts: 295
Joined: Thu Jan 05, 2012 5:50 pm

Re: Being pro-police

Unread post by JackAttack FM »

lovinlife101 wrote:A journalist should be objective. He/She should tell a fair and balanced not only in the selection of a story, but in the telling of a story.

I don't see that with... blah, blah, blah.
Same old shit, nit-pick and bitch about the same old station.
You have some personal beef with WEYI that you've been trying to get everybody else to buy with your trolling.

Now that the station finally has a real owner and a better product you're going to bash on the resume of an anchor that's been in the market for 30 years?

You're reaching.
Nothing new.
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craig11152
Posts: 2201
Joined: Tue Nov 06, 2007 8:15 am
Location: Ann Arbor

Re: Being pro-police

Unread post by craig11152 »

A chance for me to ask the professionals.....
when a news anchor, whether its this guy in Flint, or a national guy reads a story from the teleprompter who wrote the words?
a second question, who decides what "news" is worthy news for a 1/2 hour show?
I no longer directly engage Rate This :lol
JackAttack FM
Posts: 295
Joined: Thu Jan 05, 2012 5:50 pm

Re: Being pro-police

Unread post by JackAttack FM »

craig11152 wrote:A chance for me to ask the professionals.....
when a news anchor, whether its this guy in Flint, or a national guy reads a story from the teleprompter who wrote the words?
90% of the time its a producer (the person that puts the show together) or a writer. In some shops anchors can also produce and write the newscast but, that's in the smaller shops/markets.
...a second question, who decides what "news" is worthy news for a 1/2 hour show?
Typically the producer. The larger the newsroom the more "collaborative" the effort. Everyone pitches stories at an editorial meeting with producers, managers like executive producers, managing editors, assistant news directors or news directors making the final decision on what stories will air and on what newscasts (4pm, 5pm, 6pm, 7pm, 11pm).
But, like I said, the smaller the operation the more is left up the the newscast producer to decide.
JackAttack FM
Posts: 295
Joined: Thu Jan 05, 2012 5:50 pm

Re: Being pro-police

Unread post by JackAttack FM »

lovinlife101 wrote:Seems like you're having difficulty refuting logic.
No, I'm fine.
When a journalist is getting paid by an organization and then does positive stories on said organization, that's called payola (See George Stephanopoulos).
Feel free to defend this practice.
Get some harder proof then making assumptions off of station bios. The fact you have to bring in a completely different subject into your argument means you're losing it.
Jack "ad hominem" Attack
You do realize this is what you're doing?... attacking without fact.
It is a fact you bash this station all the time. I see you haven't tried to argue against that.
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Herm
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Re: Being pro-police

Unread post by Herm »

I've worked extensively with Bill. I would never question his journalistic integrity. Journalism is many things but most importantly, it's about telling the truth. I trust that Bill will ALWAYS tell the truth. If you feel the truth is "pro-police in this situation, then in the words of The Dude... "That's like... your opinion, man".
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craig11152
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Location: Ann Arbor

Re: Being pro-police

Unread post by craig11152 »

lovinlife101 wrote:He is paid by police departments to work for them, according to his bio.
This is clearly a conflict of interest.


That is not clear to me. The closest I read is "He continues to work closely with numerous agencies and consulting firms, including the Michigan State Police, as a media consultant and instructor and, this past August, served as the Public Information Officer for Flint’s “Back To The Bricks” Law Enforcement Task Force."

Those could be paid positions but they could just as easily be volunteer positions. I think its a jump to automatically assume he is paid.
I no longer directly engage Rate This :lol
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Calvert DeForest
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Location: The corner of US-16 and M-78

Re: Being pro-police

Unread post by Calvert DeForest »

craig11152 wrote:That is not clear to me. The closest I read is "He continues to work closely with numerous agencies and consulting firms, including the Michigan State Police, as a media consultant and instructor and, this past August, served as the Public Information Officer for Flint’s “Back To The Bricks” Law Enforcement Task Force."

Those could be paid positions but they could just as easily be volunteer positions. I think its a jump to automatically assume he is paid.
A lot of times such positions are non-paid, like being a police-liaison for Neighborhood Watch.

Whatever one's opinion is of Bill Harris, he's been in the game long enough to know where the ethical boundaries are drawn, and I highly doubt he would put his reputation on the line for a few extra bucks and a pat on the back.
Shortwave is the ORIGINAL satellite radio.
WhatIsNews
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Joined: Wed Jan 08, 2014 11:05 am

Re: Being pro-police

Unread post by WhatIsNews »

Bill's done a bunch of positive police stories over the last few years. Is it a conflict of interest? I don't know. I don't think any of the stories I've seen him do qualify as unethical. Media should do good stories about police when it makes sense to do so, and Bill's had a pretty impressive career so he's bought himself some leeway.

If a station as a whole had ONLY done stories that paint police in a positive light, I'd be more concerned... but as someone already pointed out, there's been plenty of coverage about controversial police actions lately.

I just think when there is a good police story to do, they put Bill on it (or Bill volunteers for it)... and Bill finds out about more of them because he has some many contacts with them.

If there's a case (or cases) where there are problems with police and Bill HIDES it, then there's a problem.
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NoozDude
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Joined: Tue Dec 07, 2004 9:35 am
Location: Looking for Roadrunner

Re: Being pro-police

Unread post by NoozDude »

[quote="lovinlife101"]When he's acting as a public information officer for the police department, as he has in the past, he is speaking on behalf of a police department./quote]

Let's clear up some misconceptions, misinformation and/or assumptions.
(1) As the bio states, he was PIO for the Back To Bricks Law Enforcement Task Force. He, however, did not represent any police agency but, rather, one of several BTTB committee members who were involved with the task force. The Task Force commander and/or The chairman of BTTB were the official spokespersons.
(2) The "last August" reference in the bio refers to the time of year after he was let go by ABC12 and before he was hired by NBC25.
(3) it was a volunteer, non-paid position.
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audiophile
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Location: Between 88 and 108 MHz.

Re: Being pro-police

Unread post by audiophile »

What is wrong with being pro-police occasionally?

News is mostly pro-moron, so what's wrong with some balance :blink
Ask not what your country can do FOR you; ask what they are about to do TO YOU!!
DAC
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Joined: Wed Feb 16, 2005 5:43 pm

Re: Being pro-police

Unread post by DAC »

audiophile wrote:What is wrong with being pro-police occasionally?

News is mostly pro-moron, so what's wrong with some balance :blink
Amen! <Hillbilly accent> Somthin' happened da me dat I dint like, so Ah called tv5, an dey got R done!" <end hillbilly accent>
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audiophile
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Location: Between 88 and 108 MHz.

Re: Being pro-police

Unread post by audiophile »

lovinlife101 wrote:This is to answer audiophile's question.

The problem with being "pro-police," even occasionally, for a journalist is that it is tipping the story in favor of the police and being biased rather than being balanced.

Simply reporting what police say, without scrutiny, is journalism malpractice.

See this link: http://wcrz.com/flints-bill-harris-talk ... -12-audio/

At 4:10 there's talk about training new police chiefs in media relations. There's also a comment about a state police lieutenant being a best friend. Don't get me wrong. There's nothing wrong with having a best friend that just so happens to be a state police lieutenant. But when that results in only positive stories for police, no scrutiny, training police how to handle the media, serving as a police public affairs official, etc., that's where it crosses the journalistic line.
Where is your proof there was no scrutiny?
Ask not what your country can do FOR you; ask what they are about to do TO YOU!!
WhatIsNews
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Joined: Wed Jan 08, 2014 11:05 am

Re: Being pro-police

Unread post by WhatIsNews »

lovinlife101 wrote:And then there's this: http://www.mlive.com/news/saginaw/index ... _svsu.html

A Detroit student studying in a masters program at SVSU gets pulled over for no reason, gets cuffed and charged with felony fleeing and alluding simply because he pulled into a lit parking lot. His cousin had been robbed by fake police before and he was simply taking precautions.

Then, police and the prosecutor have the audacity to offer a plea deal so that he would still have a misdemeanor, lose his job and forfeit his financial aid.

THESE FOLKS DO NOT WORK FOR YOU!

The police and prosecutor targeted this Detroit student who is trying to make a better life for himself and the police want to ruin his life.

Absolutely disgusting.

You're not alone in your distrust of police, either from a systemic or personal level... but most people either take issue with "bad cops" or with biased policing (or racial targeting). You seem opposed to the whole concept of enforcing laws.

You pick a lot of anecdotal evidence (videos/stories) to show how horrible police are, but that's all it is. You can just as easily find examples of people doing bad things in every single profession in the world.

It's also odd that you picked this year (when there has been more negative police attention than any other time I can remember) to say media is pro-police. You see a lot more people complaining these days about the LACK of "good police" stories.

I DO think you've brought up a good point about media assuming police always tell the truth. All media work under the assumption that police statements are true unless proven false. Reporter will be careful to explain "police say" this, or "police say" that -- so as not to claim they know something themselves -- but police are still one of the most reliable sources we have. I've often wished there was a better alternative, but I don't really have one.

You can try to get random neighbors to tell you what happened in any given case... but usually (best case scenario) they're speculating, (most likely scenario) they won't talk, or (worst case scenario) they lie. If several people contradict a police story, then you check on it. I think St. Louis and Baltimore prove that media are more than willing to hold police responsible, but it's not like reporters have access to forensics. We don't do nearly as much "detective" work as most people think. Police have access to the most information.

However, I'm surprised anyone would be so mad about the police basketball event (and media coverage of it). Especially in areas like Flint and Saginaw, even the most jaded person acknowledges that there needs to be better communication between police and regular people. Police aren't magic. They rely on witnesses to do their job and keep people safe. If witnesses get to know police officers better (even if there's only 1 or 2 they trust), that has to be a good thing for catching real criminals (murderers, drug dealers). The story you just posted if proof of that. Police assume a person in a car is trying to get away... and the person in the car doesn't trust the police are actually police. Wouldn't it be better if the lines of communication were open so police and citizens both didn't always fear the worst?

Is it smart to be cautious of police? Careful around police? Yes. But against the whole concept of police ("THESE FOLKS DO NOT WORK FOR YOU")? Yikes! What a depressing way to look at life (ironic, given your user name).
DAC
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Re: Being pro-police

Unread post by DAC »

I've heard that MY 5 is hurting for advertising revenue. Maybe you could buy some time and we could all enjoy "Lovin' Life's Pro Criminal News at 10:58" every night.
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