Thursday, September 05, 2002

Relpy from City Beat on My Post regarding an Article by Doug Trapp
Subj:
Date: 09/05/2002 1:37:46 PM Eastern Standard Time
From: gflannery@citybeat.com
To: CincyBlog@aol.com
CC: dtrapp@citybeat.com

Dear Brian,

I am writing to correct your statements about Doug Trapp's article on Stonewall Cincinnati.

If the use of the terms "uprising" and "rebellion" qualify a person for your journalism hall of shame, it is I, not Mr. Trapp, who deserve the nomination. Fact is, Doug used the term "riot"; in editing the article, I changed the word to "uprising" and "rebellion."

Mr. Trapp's article describes the reaction of some Stonewall activists to what happened in April 2001, saying they were "energized" by the events following the police shooting of Timothy Thomas. I think it safe to say that what the activists found "energizing" was not property damage or physical assault, but rather the spontaneous expressions of moral outrage that filled the streets. In the context of the article, "uprising" and "rebellion" are more informative and more accurate than "riot."

But perhaps more to the point, the actual violence in April 2001 was a relatively small part of what happened in the streets; far more people participated in nonviolent, albeit noisy, street protests than in any kind of activity that would qualify as "rioting." Use of the term "riot" unfairly denigrates the legitimate anger prompted by police brutality, just as Charlie Luken's use of the term "terrorists" to describe the civil-rights boycott of Cincinnati unfairly characterized their movement.

Thank you for allowing me to respond to your commentary.

Sincerely,

Greg Flannery
News editor
CityBeat


I will have a response later on tonight.

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