News media, including The Kansas City Star, let down Wyandotte County time and again

In the same way that the media relishes highlighting the negative in Wyandotte County, it ignores the positive. Case in point: During the height of COVID-19 lockdowns, TV news led its broadcasts for weeks with Riverbend Post Acute Rehabilitation nursing home’s positive COVID infection rates and deaths, ignoring similar devastation occurring in facilities in Johnson County and other parts of the metropolitan area. When complaints were lodged about the lopsided reporting, the reporting changed.

A recent Thursday evening was no exception. Press with cameras flooded the Aug. 12 Kansas legislative redistricting hearings at Matt Ross Community Center in Overland Park, where there was an overflow crowd. One broadcast outlet replayed interview and public testimony excerpts in later televised segments.

However, Kansas City Kansas Community College also had an overflow crowd, and those attending presented thoughtful and cogent testimony. Every seat was filled and excess participants stood at the back. One difference was that the room was wider and socially distanced, while in Overland Park, people were packed in a deeper space like sardines. Once the sitting and standing room was filled, Johnson County meeting attendees had no choice but to spill into the hallways. Most folks wore masks at Matt Ross, though they were not required. In KCK, masks were mandated.

Both hearings were held on the same day, at 1:45 p.m. in Overland Park and 6 p.m. in Kansas City, Kansas. The later time was much more accessible for working residents. Yet the press did not go inside the KCK town hall. The one broadcast outlet that attended came only to the front of the building and reported that the Johnson County gathering was “very crowded. This meeting, not as crowded, but still a lot of people here.” In a print version of the same story, the KCK hearings were not mentioned at all. Another story included the Wyandotte County town hall, but reporters obviously did not attend it.

In both hearings, one consistent theme was imparted to legislators: Leave the 3rd Congressional District untouched. Do not gerrymander based on partisan politics.

So was the lack of reporting on the Wyandotte County hearing a classic case of ethnic and racial media bias? Wyandotte has historically been perceived as less significant, ostensibly because of its mix of immigrant, Latino and African American residents. One white Overland Park resident I know who grew up in KCK said his family was anxious to move to Johnson County “because the kids over here don’t go to college.”

The omission and commission of news reporting on Wyandotte County is blatant to residents. The county is less affluent than Johnson County, and home to more marginalized communities. The latest census numbers demonstrate that, as in the past, no significant racial or ethnic majority exists in Wyandotte: It’s 43% white, 27% Hispanic/Latino, and 25% Black/African American, according to the Wyandotte Economic Development Council. The media’s tendency toward implicit invisibility of this community seems clear — unless there is negative news to report.

Online video and social media platforms such as YouTube and Facebook Live make it easy for reporters to appear as if they have attended meetings and events when they have not.

Reporting remotely underscores the perceived unimportance of physical presence to cover the positive outpouring of community concern in Wyandotte County. Whether it was intentional or imposed by deadline or other workplace factors, this community again got short shrift. The fact that so many residents and supporters gathered to voice opinions about the rather obscure and convoluted redistricting process speaks volumes, and is arguably a story unto itself.

Major print and broadcast media did not attend to report on KCK’s redistricting meetings, but some news outlets have begun measures to correct reporting omissions and systemic stereotypical portrayals historically ingrained in their coverage. Among the more recent: The Kansas City Star’s project, “The truth in black and white: An apology from The Star;” The Los Angeles Times’ series, “Our reckoning with racism” and The Orlando Sentinel’s “To the community and the families of the Groveland Four: We’re sorry.”

Most media outlets have miles to go.

Connie Brown-Collins is the organizer of Concerned Voters of Wyandotte County, an ad hoc coalition that advocates for voter rights. She is also a diversity, inclusion, implicit bias and equal employment opportunity consultant who resides in Kansas City, Kansas.

This story was originally published August 26, 2021 at 5:00 AM with the headline "News media, including The Kansas City Star, let down Wyandotte County time and again."