CovCath: The story that broke journalism, at least for a weekend

A viral video with a narrow lens makes for a simple story, right? It was anything but.

It’s not the first time traditional journalism has been sideswiped by a conspiracy of social media, viral video, and the rush to divide into tribes and blame the other side. But the conflagration that arose in the wake of a peaceful face-to-face encounter between a Kentucky teen and a native American sparked a wildfire out of a tinderbox that is the nexus of American culture, politics and journalism. This story should have every journalist, every newsroom and every journalism organization rethinking what constitutes responsibility in reporting, even if they believe they got every fact right.

I’m pitching this discussion because I’m a news director at the leading TV/digital newsroom in Cincinnati, and the CovCath boys and Catholic diocese live here among us. This story, captured far away in Washington DC, hit home for us like nowhere else. Local media had its own angles on the story. We received very different feedback from our consumers, because some of these people are our neighbors.

I don’t yet have a panel assembled, but it would include both local and national journalists, a First Amendment/libel lawyer and an ethicist.

[If ONA produces ANY session about CovCath (this pitch or another), please include a voice from Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky local media.]

Suggested Speaker(s)

  • Chip Mahaney (I could moderate) (@chipmahaney)
    News Director, WCPO
  • TBA