Washington Post Reporter Discusses Unrest in Ferguson

Wesley Lowery, a Washington Post reporter known for his coverage of this summer’s civil unrest in Ferguson, Mo., spoke about the challenges of sociopolitical developments in Ferguson and the role of social media in journalism during a speaker series Tuesday afternoon.

The event, held by the Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics, and Public Policy at the Kennedy School of Government, was titled “Reporting on Ferguson and Subsequent Developments” and moderated by Alex S. Jones, director of the Shorenstein Center.

Lowery, who was named the 2014 Emerging Journalist of the Year by the National Association of Black Journalists, moved to Ferguson last August to cover the events that unfolded in the aftermath of the death of Michael Brown. He stayed there until after the grand jury decisions in November, when Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson was acquitted of all charges following the fatal shooting of Michael Brown.

“It became apparent real quickly that this was a story that was about much more than an 18-year-old being shot in the street,” Lowery said to a crowd of Kennedy School students and fellows.

By Sofia C. Shapiro

Lowery discussed his experience speaking to Ferguson locals in what he called a socioeconomically and racially diverse suburb. According to him, Brown’s death was not the only instance of tension between the police force and African-American residents.

“Every person I talked to had a specific distrust for local police force,” Lowery said.

He discussed the role of social media in the coverage of Ferguson, saying that it acted as a “feedback mechanism” that empowered people in Ferguson to hold journalists accountable, as well as allowing the stories of “real people” to be heard.

“People in Ferguson, protest leaders, and activists would take to task specific news organization over specific lines of specific stories,” Lowery said.

Derwin L. Dubose, a student at the Harvard Kennedy School who attended the discussion, asked Lowery how Ferguson had managed to remain latent on racial issues for such a long period despite the extensive communication platforms available to the average citizen through social media.

Lowery claimed that the suburb had remained relatively dormant despite concerns over policing and racial instability due to black families’ conscious decision to move to the suburb in order to give their children access to better educational opportunities.

Lowery cited the controversial suspension of Dr. Art McCoy, the African American superintendent of the Ferguson-Florissant school district, by the school board in late 2013 as one of the events that helped further spark civil unrest in the wake of Michael Brown’s shooting.

During the talk, Jones asked Lowery about the legacy of Ferguson and how it had changed the media environment. Lowery said that the ultimate takeaway was the interaction between journalists and the people whose stories they aim to tell.

“You have to engage in the platforms and mediums where they are,” said Lowery, adding that it is important to “empower [people] to tell their own stories.”

—Staff writer Carolina I. Portela-Blanco can be reached at carolina.portelablanco@thecrimson.com. Follow her on Twitter @cportelablanco.