The day after a man opened fire at a Collierville, Tennessee, grocery store, killing one person and wounding 13 others before turning the gun on himself, local police conducted an impromptu news conference to identify the perpetrator.
But instead of saying the suspect’s name out loud on that sunny morning in September 2021, Collierville Police Lt. David Townsend held up a yellow piece of paper with the name “Uk Thang” and the birth date “10-17-91.”
Nothing else was said about the suspect at the press conference, other than that he was a “third-party vendor” for the store. Later reporting determined he was the franchise operator for the sushi counter at the store, but he was not a Kroger employee.
That press conference has become typical of the way law enforcement has reacted after mass shootings: Never mention the suspect’s name or offer much information about the person. The goal is to encourage the news media to avoid using the perpetrator’s name and thus deprive the perpetrator of publicity. As my research has found, for the past 10 years the news media has followed suit by reducing the number of times the name of a mass shooter is reported.
After the death of heavyweight boxer Muhammad Ali in 2016, his hometown newspaper offered him an apology for waiting years to refer to him by the name he preferred. Born as Cassius Clay in Louisville, Kentucky, the boxer announced at the age of 22 that he had changed his name after winning the heavyweight title in 1964. His hometown newspaper was not alone in denying him the name he preferred. This research shows it took six to seven years before mainstream news outlets referred to the boxer as Ali and not Clay. An analysis of mainstream newspaper coverage shows that it was in 1970 and 1971 when the change was made. This research offers analysis of why this change took so long, and it examines the ethical considerations for sports journalists who are faced with an athlete name change. Click here to read the research.
John Martin, left, sits with his co-host Jason Smith at a recent live event during “The Jason and John Show.” Martin said he has kept his show going even though there are no live sports by pivoting to discussion about the issues with the coronavirus. (Photo courtesy of John Martin)
With no games to cover, John Martin switches to reporting on impact of coronovirus
By Tom Hrach
April 10, 2020
When the coronavirus pandemic hit in mid-March and cancelled all live sports, Memphis sports talk radio host John Martin had to find a way to keep his radio show going or eventually lose his job.
Martin, host of the “Jason and John Show” on 92.9 FM ESPN Sports Radio, decided to change direction. Instead of talking about the NCAA basketball tournament, the NFL draft or college football, he and his co-host started talking about social
distancing, stay-at-home orders and the economic fallout of Memphis business closings.
“Our foundation entirely as a station has been ripped away from us, w
hich is sports,” Martin said. “You have to really pivot. That is the only decision that you have.”
The virus, also known as COVID-19, sent shock waves through the sports world on March 11 when sports leagues including the NBA, Major League Baseball and the NCAA cancelled all events indefinitely due to the pandemic. A month later, there is no sign when live sports will return.
Martin, 28, has hosted his radio talk show from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. every day with Jason Smith for four years. The show is now the top-rated talk show for men aged 25 to 54 in Memphis, Martin said. And the glue that kept the show popular was sports.
“Obviously COVID-19 has completely thrown that out the window,” Martin said. “Our job has changed. It is about how many cases are there today in Shelby County. Yesterday we had a very spirited discussion about how this has affected the black community, and why that is. We’ve had epidemiologists on the show.”
WMFS 92.9 FM ESPN Sports Radio is owned by Entercom Communications, a national company with stations in more than 46 cities. But local stations thrive on local advertising and when local businesses are hurting, as they are right now, so does the bottom line at the station.
Brad Carson, general manager for Entercom in Memphis, said he was impressed with the way Martin has kept the show going. In the four years Martin has co-hosted the show, he and Smith built a solid audience that Carson said has not abandoned the show even though there is no live sports to discuss.
“John in particular speaks to a segment of Memphis. He has went through it. He has overcome obstacles in his life. He got a degree from Memphis. He worked hard to get where he is at.,” Carson said. “People want to hear his personal story.”
Not only is Martin keeping the show lively and informative for three hours every day, he also produces the show because Carson cannot come into the studio. Martin works the board, books the guests and takes phone calls on one side of the glass while co-host Smith is on the other side of the glass
The million dollar question is can a sports talk radio station survive until live sports returns. It may be a month, six moths or even a year. Already local advertising has fallen dramatically. And all station employees including Martin have taken a temporary pay cut.
Martin, a 2013 U of M journalism graduate, also writes for The Athletic, a subscription based sports site. He said The Athletic is more secure in the downturn because it does not rely on advertising for its income. But it is the radio show for which he is best known, and it is sports talk that brings people to the show.
“I understand. I am not under any false pretenses. We are a sports radio station. And without sports, people will say, ‘What the hell am I tuning in for?,” Martin said. “But I do think over the years we have built a very loyal base. I think people crave information so I think for those reasons they are probably spending more time with us than they normally would.”
Tom Hrach was interviewed by students at the Johannes Gutenberg University in Mainz, Germany, in June 2018 about his thoughts on American media. Hrach discussed his book “The Riot Report and the News” also his thoughts on government’s role in fostering a free and indepdendent news media.
The interview was conducted at the headquarters of Germany’s second televison network, ZDF.
50 years later, America yet to fully heed still-relevant Kerner Report warning of two societies — ‘separate and unequal’
Otto Kerner in Springfield, Ill., 1968.
A month before the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. on April 4, 1968, a Western Union telegram arrived at the Illinois Statehouse addressed to Gov. Otto Kerner.
Kerner had just completed seven months of work on a voluminous report about rioting and the lousy state of race relations in America. The report minced no words about how racism pervaded American society and caused violence in the nation’s cities. Back in 1968, a telegram was the fastest way to get a written message to someone. When a person received a Western Union telegram, it was a big deal — always something important.
This article appeared on Feb. 6, 2018, on mlk50.com, a year-long reporting project to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the King assassination in Memphis. To read the entire story, click here.
Jon Bell stands in front of the practice green at the FedEx St. Jude Classic on June 8 prior to the start of the tournament at TPC Southwind in Memphis.
By Tom Hrach
June 28, 2017
Thanks to a new scholarship that honors the late Phil Cannon, one Memphis journalism student got to launch his career as a sports journalist by interviewing and following some of the biggest names in golf.
Those interviews ranged from Adam Scott, the 2013 Master’s champion, and Rickie Fowler, the four-time PGA tour winner.
Journalism student Jon Bell also got to follow the legendary Phil Mickelson around TPC Southwind at the 2017 FedEx St. Jude Classic. Bell was there as well when Daniel Berger finished off his winning put on the 18th green to snag his second straight win at the Memphis PGA tour event back on June 11.
But perhaps the biggest thrill was just being shoulder-to-shoulder with the other national media members.
“It was real cool being in the media room. All the guys from the Golf Channel and media outlets like that there,” Bell said. “I was in there with all these other journalists who do this for a living. I got to see what I could be doing in a few years as a sports journalist after I get myself established.”
That opportunity came when tournament organizers decided to honor Cannon, who was tournament director for 16 years prior to his death in October of 2016 at the age of 63. An annual $2,500 scholarship will be awarded to one journalism student interested in pursuing a career in sports journalism.
As part of the scholarship, the student also gets to intern at the FedEx St. Jude Classic, which is conducted every year in early June in Memphis. Cannon was a 1978 graduate of the UofM journalism department who started volunteering for the tournament at age 16 as a White Station High School Student.
Current tournament director Darrell Smith said Cannon always had a soft spot for college students and young people who were interested in the game. In fact, Cannon gave Smith a chance right out of college in 2005 to work at the tournament, and then he became his successor.
“Phil was a journalism guy through and through,” Smith said. “He considered himself a newspaper guy,” Smith said. “We just decided hey – what would Phil appreciate. A scholarship tied to the University of Memphis journalism is a perfect way to do it.”
On the Sunday final day of the tournament after Berger gave his press conference, the media center at TPC Southwind was dedicated in Cannon’s honor. It is now known as the Phil Cannon Media Center. It was, after all, where Cannon got his start back at the age of 16.
“Phil always had a great relationship with the media, and we felt the scholarship was a perfect way to honor Phil,” Smith said.
Bell said getting access to the players allowed him to see what sports journalism was all about. Because he had a media pass during the tournament, he was inside the ropes and got to hear what the pros were saying to each other and their caddies.
The biggest following at the tournament was with Mickelson, who made some headlines before the tournament by announcing that he would play in Memphis but skip the U.S. Open the following week.
“I remember was sitting there and Brooks Koepka and others were joking around with Phil Mickelson about him getting old and how he will be able to play on the senior hour in a few years,” Bell said. “That was interesting. I got to hear that.”
What is even more interesting is that Koepka would go on to win the U.S. Open less than a week after that exchange with Mickelson.
During the tournament, Bell wrote news stories about the tournament including one about how the PGA tour was assisting the Wounded Warriors project and then a story about a St. Jude hospital patient who was involved in the tournament. The tournament is a fundraiser for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.
Bell of Hernando, Mississippi, now gets to add PGA tournament golf to his resume of events he has covered, which also include the NCAA Southeast Regional in March and also coverage this summer of the Memphis Redbirds. He returns this fall as editor of The Daily Helmsman, and he plans to graduate in December.
“I hope to land a job in sports journalism somewhere ,” Bell said. “This definitely helps because now I can put on my resume I covered a PGA golf tournament. I can cover this and write stories about it.”
The Benjamin Hooks Central Library in Memphis is filled with more than a half million books.
Some are wondrous works of literature. Others are duds. Some tell historically accurate stories about the past. Others get history all screwed up. Some are perfectly acceptable and in accordance with modern thinking. Others are horribly outdated and filled with cringe-worthy, misguided ideas.
Every book is valuable. Few citizens would support removing any one of the books because it was poorly written, historically inaccurate, or hopelessly out of date.
It would be censorship to remove them from the shelf. Even bad books contribute to our knowledge of the world, even if they show us how wrong people once were.
Yet when it comes to statues in public parks, many are eager to engage in that kind of censorship. This article appeared in the Aug. 27, 2017, Memphis Commercial Appeal. To read the entire piece, click here.
The American Journalism Historians Association has named Thomas J. Hrach’s The Riot Report and the News: How the Kerner Commission Changed Media Coverage of Black America as the 2016 Book of the Year.
The award will be presented at the group’s national convention in October 2017 in Little Rock, Arkansas. The American Journalism Historians Association Book of the Year Award recognizes the best book in journalism history or mass media history published during the previous calendar year.
Hrach’s book was published by the University of Massachusetts Press. The award has been presented every year since 2001, and previous recipients have included such notable works as The Race Beat, which won the 2007 Pulitzer Prize for history.
Tom Hrach was interviewed during Live at Nine on WREG Channel 3 in Memphis on June 2. He discussed his book “The Riot Report and the News” with hosts Marybeth Conley and Alex Coleman.
The Barnes & Noble bookstore at the Wolfchase Mall in Memphis is conducting a book author festival that will include ‘The Riot Report and the News.’
The event is from 1 to 4 p.m., June 10. It is the 10th Annual Author Festival. Nine authors will be participating. This is a chance for people to meet the authors, pick up their books in the store and have copies signed.
Each author will give a 20-minute presentation during the event. Included will be Tom Hrach author of “The Riot Report and the News” along with fellow University of Memphis Journalism and Strategic Media faculty member Otis Sanford, author “From Boss Crump to King Willie.”
For more information on the book author event, click here.
as interviewed during Live at Nine on WREG Channel 3 in Memphis on June 2. He discussed his book “The Riot Report and the News” with hosts Marybeth Conley and Alex Coleman.
Tom Hrach 