A Battered Local Face Depicts Journalism 2020

Tony Holt in a house ad from the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.

The face of journalism today is battered and bloody, and the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette published proof on June 4.

Page 8A startled readers with the stitched-up and swollen face of reporter Tony Holt, who took a brick — he thinks — full force while covering street protests just blocks from the newspaper’s headquarters in downtown Little Rock a few days earlier.

The blunt messenger was a full-color ad, titled “The Face of Journalism Today,” recounting an on-duty assault on Holt June 1.

Knocked cold and incommunicado, Holt didn’t check in by deadline, and City Editor Steve Goff went looking for him.

He was found at UAMS Medical Center getting treatment and stitches, and Goff and State Editor Danny Shameer kept him company through a five-hour stay.

The Democrat-Gazette reported that Holt was assaulted near Capitol Avenue and State Street. “He said he felt somebody take his reporter’s notebook from his pocket, and then he was struck in the head,” said the ad, which went on to appeal for subscriptions in support of local journalism.

The picture of Holt — left eye swollen shut, nose stitched up, bruises and scrapes along the left side of the face — is a decent metaphor for local news in 2020, a crucial service to democracy that’s besieged as never before.

The whole advertiser-based business model of local newspapers had collapsed long before the coronavirus recession, which has by some estimates halved ad revenue that was already a small fraction of what it had been before Google, Facebook and YouTube.

“The support of subscribers is crucial and essential to keep reporting the news impartially, without fear or favor,” the ad said. Several of my regular email correspondents told me they opened their checkbooks.

Holt didn’t reply to phone calls or emails, and Managing Editor Eliza Gaines said Democrat-Gazette policy generally forbids reporters from speaking with other news outlets. She also said her employees are now equipped with gas masks and helmets.

Gaines, daughter of Democrat-Gazette Publisher and Wehco Media Chairman Walter Hussman Jr., said reporters always face potential risks in covering the news.

“In addition to Tony’s attack, one of our photographers was tear-gassed twice at one of the protests,” said Gaines, who took over the newsroom just before the COVID-19 pandemic. “We now have protective gear for reporters and photographers like gas masks and helmets. We’ve asked journalists to stay in touch with their editors and to stick together if possible.”

Employees now have a checklist of things to remember when covering protests or unrest, she said. “I reached out to the city to establish a contact that someone from the paper could call if a reporter is detained or arrested.”

As for the ad, Gaines thought it had an impact: “We’ve heard all positive feedback. I’m sure the photo of his injuries was startling to some, but it was an effective way to show our newsroom’s commitment to giving readers the most complete story, even though [reporters] risk their personal safety. I hope it reinforces in the minds of nonsubscribers why they need to support this type of reporting — our journalists are on the front lines. The bottom line is that I’m really proud.”

Injuries to journalists were common in the early, chaotic days of the current police brutality protests, spurred by the killing of George Floyd under a white officer’s knee in Minneapolis last month. Some attacks, like the one on Holt, were at the hands of protestors, but other injuries were caused by the police. More than two dozen reporters were arrested, some for violating curfew, even though the curfews specifically exempted working journalists.

It’s a hard time for reporters. Those lucky enough to still have a job are often risking life and limb to do it.

Maggie Haberman of The New York Times put it this way, in a Twitter post: “I’ve never seen so many incidents with police and reporters simultaneously in different cities. Tension between cops and reporters is nothing new. But aggression on reporters in multiple locations nationally at the same time is something different.”