To the Editor,

The March 11 issue devoted voluminous coverage to a single-interest group, School Safety Now: front page headline and another half page in the front section. In addition to quoting the group's founder, a retired police captain, the article cited eight other sources. Every source cited is in favor of the group's proposal to put "armed officers in every Ocean State School." The article then throws its own weight behind this cherry-picked consensus with "Law enforcement and education leaders in Johnston, Cranston, and Warwick all seem to concur with School Safety Now's goals."

While this kind of one-sided reporting is common in the media today, especially around anything involving police (see extensive coverage of this phenomenon by Alec Karakatsanis @equalityAlec  on Twitter), it still does not qualify as journalism. The headline could be the group's bumper sticker; the article is more like a recruiting poster --even conveniently providing the address of the group's signup sheet.

The group's founder says that "The only way I can think of [to address school shootings] is put a cop in school."  Anyone with a pulse is aware that there are other groups with other ideas about how to address school shootings. None of these other ideas are even mentioned in the article.

This is an ongoing national debate, with plenty of voices on all sides. Judging from this article, the Herald has chosen sides, and chooses to use its platform for advocacy rather than reporting.

David Baldwin