When it comes to reporting on crime and other bad things happening in Miami, local TV stations do not provide fair and balanced coverage. In fact, mainstream news organizations are out to destroy African-American communities.
Part of the problem is the lack of minority reporters from Miami covering the news.
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Consider this: Last week, 26-year-old Lazaro Manuel Arencibia was shot in the abdomen at a gas station two blocks from El Portal. But watching local news reports, you wouldn't know Arencibia's brush with death was so close to the quaint, scenic village north of Little Haiti.
According to CBS Miami, Local 10 News, and 7 News, Arencibia was shot in an "area" of Northwest Miami-Dade. The stations did the same thing when a couple was shot in an attempted carjacking in Kendall July 29. The reports only said the shooting took place in Southwest Miami-Dade.
Yet whenever a shooting takes place in poor black communities such as Overtown, Liberty City, Opa-locka, and Miami Gardens, TV stations have no problem identifying them for viewers.
You never see any stories about the businesses thriving in Miami Gardens, including some of the best cigar bars and restaurants in South Florida. And you never see news trucks covering community events such as a recent camp at Charles Hadley Park hosted by hometown hero and Atlanta Falcons running back Devonta Freeman.
Part of the problem is the lack of minority reporters from Miami covering the news. A majority of the newscasters and reporters of color — including Channel 10 anchor Calvin Hughes, a Cleveland native — are imported from other cities. The station's Sunday show with Michael Putney and Glenna Milberg brings in African-American commentators no one in the community has heard of — or black political consultants who are paid by campaigns.
The result is unbalanced, negative coverage of Miami's African-American neighborhoods. This helps stifle economic growth. No Fortune 500 company will set up shop in an area that gets negative news coverage around the clock.
Follow Luke on Twitter: @unclelukereal1.
