For years I have written about the close relationship that mainstream news media has with law enforcement.
Basically, here's how it works.
Mainstream news media and its reporters depend on police to feed them tips, leads, press releases, hearsay, and general info.
Simply put, mainstream news media can't function, let alone survive, without law enforcement keeping them "in the loop" when it comes to developing news stories.
Which is why I always say that since mainstream news media depends on being fed by law enforcement, naturally, it makes sense that they would be very careful not to bite the hand that feeds them.
In other words, whenever possible, mainstream news media will throw law enforcement a bone.
This can happen in a few different ways.
Often times, mainstream news media will simply ignore allegations of police misconduct, by refusing to report on it.
Call it "See No Evil, Speak No Evil, Hear No Evil."
Other times, if they do decide to report on incidents of police abuse, or official misconduct, mainstream news media will put kid gloves on when covering such cases.
They'll go easy.
Or, mainstream news media, in an attempt to not burn any bridges with the hand that feeds them, will spin incidents of police misconduct or corruption, in order to help law enforcement justify their injustices and atrocities.
And sometimes mainstream news media will just flat out lie to protect cops.
Case in point.
A Tuesday morning Rochester, NY Democrat and Chronicle newspaper story about an incident in Brighton, NY, a suburb of Rochester, where Brighton Police officer Brad Steve, who was responding to a domestic disturbance call at Briar Manor Apartments shot at Tyler Keys, a young black man, after the officer claimed Keys tried to hit him and fellow officers with his car.
Tyler Keys mugshot with caption "accused of shooting at Brighton police officer."
Keys is alleged to have gotten into a domestic dispute with his girlfriend in the town of Webster, NY, then drove to his mother's apartment in Brighton, where police were waiting for him.
Attending a Brighton, NY Police press conference Tuesday afternoon, Jon Hand, a seasoned Democrat and Chronicle reporter, and Mary Chao, who normally writes a real estate column for the paper, wasted no time in putting together a piece for the D&C.
In that piece, under a mugshot of Tyler Keys, a caption read: "Tyler Keys, accused of shooting at Brighton police officer." (SEE VIDEO BELOW)
That's a lie.
Tyler Keys never shot at any Brighton, NY Police officers.
And the Brighton, NY Police Department never accused Keys of firing at their officers.
It never happened.
In fact, it's quite the opposite.
Brighton Police officer Brad Steve is the only one who did any shooting, discharging his service weapon.
Twice.
At 1:00 a.m.
In the middle of an apartment complex.
Both shots missed Tyler Keys and his vehicle.
Both shots became stray bullets, with no name on them.
Flying through the night air.
As families with young children slept in their nearby apartments.
I want to be clear about something.
I don't know what happened.
I don't know if Tyler Keys really did drive his vehicle at a police officer, trying to hit him.
And if he did, in no way do I condone that.
But what is known is that Tyler Keys never shot at police.
Again, it never happened.
And for Rochester's mainstream news media to falsely report that it did, is very irresponsible.
Not to mention the ramifications the false reporting can bring, including the possibility of tainting the court of public opinion, and, any potential jury or grand jury proceedings, and as a result preventing Tyler Keys from having a fair trial,
Democrat and Chronicle reporter Mary Chao
I reached out to Mary Chao, and Jon Hand Tuesday afternoon.
John Hand never returned my calls.
As for Mary Chao, after going back and forth on Twitter, where at first she seemed clueless about the false reporting on her own story, and then seemed to want to distance herself from it altogether, even tweeting me to contact her editor, Angie Nassar, I was able to reach Chao by phone.
I asked Mary Chao about her story with her name on it, and the false reporting.
"I don't know how that happened," Chao said.
"I don't understand it, we're puzzled but that's wrong because I was at the press conference and that's not what happened, he's (Keys) not accused of shooting at police."
So I asked Mary Chao again, how cam it be that she has no explanation, when it's her story.
There was a long pause.
"I think someone doesn't want to admit to it," Chao told me.
Hmm...
UPDATE: After my story exposing Rochester's Democrat and Chronicle newspaper's false reporting, the paper edited their online article.
However, the newspaper did not issue any apology to its readers for the false statement, nor did they nake any mention of it whatsoever.
Democrat and Chronicle Reporter Jon Hand
Angie Nassar, Democrat and Chronicle Mobile Editor
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