The Code Breaker

Shannon McDonald

by Isaiah Thompson

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Published: Sep 23, 2009

Mark Stehle

There are two ways to look at what happened to Shannon McDonald, the student at Temple's Multimedia Urban Reporting Lab who caused a splash when she wrote a story that included racist comments coming from the mouth of a Philadelphia police officer during a ride-along. It could be that McDonald just got assigned a really, really bad apple to follow around that day. Any reporter, put in her shoes, would have done the same and written exactly what the officer said, right?

Maybe not. It's hard to believe that, with all the reporters in this city who regularly interact with police, none of them has ever seen or heard anything similarly inappropriate.

The truth, that we all know but rarely put in print, is that reporting can involve a fair amount of averting of the eyes and closing of the ears. It's not malevolent: Reporters need sources. And so, sometimes, they give cops — and politicians, and others who have power — a little bit of a pass.

McDonald didn't. When she heard the officer's comments, she called him out and put his pathetic — and revealing — explanations for his own unacceptable behavior in print. That seemingly simple act resulted in the eventual firing of the offending officer and a slew of articles and columns by McDonald's peers at the Daily News and Inquirer — the big shots — who seemed more eager to follow this one than break it.

Even if discretion is the better part of valor, McDonald reminds us that cojones don't hurt, either. The recent grad puts them to use on her new Northeast Philly-centric project, NEastphilly.com.

Honorable Mention: Journalism and Media

WPEB 88.1
The independent community radio station in West Philly is based right on the deuce (52nd Street) and gives actual community members a voice.

Grid
The new mag sheds light on issues of sustainability and the environment, and walks the walk by distributing in racks made of recycled TVs and record albums.

Breakfast at Sulimay's
Marc Brodzik's online show features oddball/outsider rock criticism from three older Fishtown residents at their local diner.

Technically Philly
Christopher Wink, Sean Blanda and Brian James Kirk obsessively cover the Philly-area tech scene, busting their ass to develop journalism that crosses entrepreneurship with multimedia.

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