New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg took the New York Times to task in a speech today for not covering the Bronx murder of 17-year-old Alphonza Bryant.
Bloomberg argued the Times would have treated the incident differently had the teen been a white prep student from Manhattan.
Dan Amira of New York magazine quoted the mayor saying the following:
Last week Bronx resident Alphonza Bryant was shot and killed while standing with friends near his home. He was 17. Like most murder victims in our city, he was a minority. … There was not even a mention of his murder in our paper of record, the New York Times. 'All the news that's fit to print' did not include the murder of 17-year-old Alphonza Bryant. Do you think that if a white, 17-year-old prep student from Manhattan had been murdered, the Times would have ignored it? Me neither. I believe that the life of every 17-year-old and every child and every adult is precious.
Also of note, is the tragic murder of Bryant was not reported on by Bloomberg’s own media outlet.
"I loathe that 17-year-old minority children could be senselessly murdered in the Bronx, and some of the media doesn’t even consider it news," Bloomberg went on to say in the speech.
The speech was given in defense of the NYPD’s stop-and-frisk policy, which has been attacked by the Times for racially profiling.