Some updates and articles from your local Baltimore media critic
Last August, I dramatically declared that I would be stepping away from The Suiter Files upon publication of my book, "They Killed Freddie Gray: The Anatomy of a Police Brutality Cover-Up."
This website has featured a good deal of Baltimore local media criticism, so I'm just posting a note to let readers know that my work has continued. In addition to my book, which contains a whole chapter on the media and substantial media criticism throughout, I have been publishing articles discussing Baltimore media for a national outlet, Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting (FAIR), a nearly 40-year old independent news outlet. Recent articles include:
"The Baltimore Sun's reckoning on Freddie Gray" - This article takes a look at how the Baltimore Sun got the Freddie Gray story wrong, enabled a police cover-up, and continues to ignore new evidence. It takes off from the work in my book, which covers other news outlets too (CNN, WBAL, City Paper, Washington Post, etc.). The article goes deeper on the Sun's reporting.
"Baltimore's New Nonprofit Looks a Lot Like the Same Old Corporate News" - This article looks at the failed promise of the new Baltimore Banner to deliver on its "nonprofit" branding and the ways it replicates the harms of corporate news.
"Baltimore's Media Nightmare and the Billionairification of News" - This article takes a look at the purchase of the Baltimore Sun by the right-wing Sinclair owner, David Smith, in the context of billionaires buying the news across the country. I question why the media is overjoyed with some billionaire newspaper purchases while scrutinizing others.
I also previously wrote for FAIR about Marilyn Mosby, back in 2020, when she was celebrated as a progressive hero taking on dirty cops. Today, she faces more than a decade in prison for corruption: "National Media Promote 'Progressive' Baltimore Prosecutor, Ignore Local and Alternative Exposés."
I am also writing about the intersection of crime and disability at Criminalizing Disability.
Book Updates
I spent the better part of the second half of last year promoting my book revealing new evidence in the Freddie Gray case. In case you missed it, I gave interviews to Mother Jones, WYPR-NPR, Baltimore Magazine, Baltimore Fishbowl, The Appeal, Sputnik Radio, The Grio, and a ton of other magazines, podcasts, and YouTube shows. I wrote articles about the book for FAIR, CrimeReads, and the Daily Beast (which published an excerpt on the manipulation and suppression of video evidence). I also held several book launch events in the Baltimore-DC area, as well as one online for the historic City Lights bookstore in San Francisco.
The full list of interviews, articles, reviews, and video recordings of events is on my personal website.
If you haven't had a chance to pick up the book yet, it's available on Amazon and various local retailers in hard copy, audio, and electronic editions. (I launched my book at Red Emma's bookstore in Baltimore, so of course would encourage you to buy it there.) You can also pick it up at many local libraries, including Enoch Pratt in Baltimore, which has it in hard copy and electronic/kindle.