Letter to the editor: Why the media can't be believed

In a recent news clip about protesters, a reporter said at 2 a.m. that “the protesters were out but not as many as earlier in the day.” After watching them smash windows, take items and run, he said, “It looks like the protesters are going to have a long night.”

What got me was the reporter called them “protesters” but they were protesters turned looters. He should have called them “looters.” Since then I’ve seen numerous times reporters do the same thing, calling them “protesters” while they loot and smash police cars, etc. Are these reporters changing the meaning of “protesters” to equal looters and rioters? No wonder people are saying “shoot the protesters.”

You would think protesters could get their message across between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. Why are they out at 2 a.m.? The answer is simple: They are going to be looters or rioters, and maybe they’re going to be arrested.

Maybe, just maybe, the reporters can call them what they really are: criminals. Maybe this is why a lot of people don’t believe what the news media says. If they would tell us the truth and not what they want us to believe, maybe they would be credible, and maybe we could believe them.

Cliff Long

Unity