📧 “Anti-military hate crimes”
Betsy;
The Hate Crimes Prevention Act of 2009 included a section that extended protections to service members, called the Soldiers Amendment. In the Oregonian's prior reporting (including here and here), the military protections of HCPA have been ignored.
Less than a year after the HCPA was passed, my local American Legion Post here in Albany was burned to the ground on July 4, 2010. The Oregonian reported on it without mentioning the anti-military bias or the fact that it should have raised anti-military hate/bias flags.
Why does the Oregonian treat a quarter of a million Oregon veterans as second class citizens when it comes to newsworthiness?
On October 4, 2024, Oregon's senior senator, Ron Wyden (CCed), asked the Department of Justice why they 1) have not enforced The Soldiers Amendment, 2) fail to provide a means of reporting to victims, and 3) are not tracking violent crimes targeting my community.
How much longer will the Oregonian apply journalistic standards differently when it comes to military families?
I have also CCed state legislators involved in this matter because I will be testifying before the State Senate Committee with jurisdiction over veterans during the next Leg Days, in December. But there is no reason to allow Wyden's Congressional Inquiry to be ignored. When will you report equally on Oregonians' work toward social justice and human rights?
@ 1013 From Betsy Hammond
Thanks for this Logan.
This gives me a much better understanding of what you see as the news story/ies we are missing. I appreciate you organizing this for my edification.
Our coverage of hate crimes and arson, as you noted in the past coverage you reference, is not rooted on the politics team, which Jamie and I co-run, but on our public safety team.
(That doesn't mean we won't cover the issue of hate crimes protections for veterans on our team; I just want to note it is not where that news normally falls.)
We have a lead reporter who specifically has owned hate crimes coverage and I am going to talk with her and her editors about their thoughts.
Do you know what ultimately happened with prosecution of the 2010 arson of the American Legion lodge in Albany?
Betsy Hammond
@ 1014
He was released and then committed more crimes later.
If that were true of someone who targeted a gender minority, would it be news?
