A Year After Freddie Gray’s Death, A Look at Media’s Coverage of the Baltimore Uprising

By Kenrya Rankin Apr 19, 2016

On April 19, 2015, Freddie Gray died from injuries sustained while in Baltimore police custody. Six officers were indicted in his death, which was ruled a homicide. The first trial, for William G. Porter, resulted in a mistrial. Now, The Baltimore Sun reports that Judge Barry Williams will hold a hearing tomorrow (April 20) to determine if one of the officers should be compelled to take the witness stand when Officer Edward M. Nero’s trial begins on May 10.

As we remember the life of Gray—who was just 25 years old when his spine was nearly severed during a “rough ride” in a police van—a new video from progressive nonprofit Media Matters for America looks at how media ostensibly covered Gray’s death and the ensuing uprising, while shaping a negative, inaccurate and racially-biased narrative about the situation on the ground that ignored the socioeconomic issues that caused it. Watch the video below.