ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the complicated ways in which journalists became subjects within the stories of Ferguson and Baltimore through a particular focus on the discursive identification of journalists as either victims or perpetrators of violence. It focuses on two evaluative frameworks: journalists as victims and journalists as perpetrators of violence. The former comprises the self-presentation of journalists as under attack by the very subjects they cover. The second narrative springs from various actors inside and outside of journalism who are upset by the patterns of news coverage around Ferguson and Baltimore. Compared to the graphic images of journalists being tear-gassed, forcibly arrested, or trampled upon by police and protestors, examples in which the press may be considered as perpetrators of violence necessitate a more nuanced interpretation. As tragic as the events in Ferguson and Baltimore were, they also serve as instructive episodes for examining discourses of media accountability and the journalistic assumptions and patterns that emerge.
