Mark Berman

Mark Berman is a national reporter who covers law enforcement, criminal justice and other issues for The Washington Post. He has reported on mass shootings, terrorist attacks, natural disasters, politics, the death penalty, sexual misconduct allegations, police shootings and other major stories. Berman was part of two teams at The Post that were finalists for the Pulitzer Prize: one for covering the 2013 Navy Yard shooting and another for covering the back-to-to mass shootings in El Paso and Dayton, Ohio, in 2019. He has been with The Post since 2007.

Biography:  https://www.washingtonpost.com/people/mark-berman/

65%

The overall score is a weighted number that takes into account conflict of interest, bias, deception and other practices that undermines the credibility of the source. It is calculated as:
Analysis.OverallConflictOfInterestScore * 0.3F + Analysis.OverallBiasScore * 0.3F + Analysis.DeceptivenessScore * 0.3F + Analysis.ReadabilityScore * 0.1F

A score that takes into consideration the content for flow, interruptions with ads, and overt search engine optimization techniques that makes the content hard to understand

The Daily's Verdict

This author has a mixed reputation for journalistic standards. It is advisable to fact-check, scrutinize for bias, and check for conflicts of interest before relying on the author's reporting.

Bias

78%

Examples:

  • cascading failures of leadership
  • injured children were put on school buses
  • Officers are disproportionately targeting communities of color.
  • one of the victims who was killed was placed outside a door
  • the department used indiscriminate force against demonstrators and had 'a culture in which sworn officers flaunted their hostility toward protesters'
  • The most significant failure

Conflicts of Interest

50%

Examples:

  • The author has been at The Post since 2007 and, before joining the National team, may have had previous professional relationships or connections that could potentially influence their reporting.

Contradictions

85%

Examples:

  • A federal civil rights investigation found that police in Phoenix use unnecessarily dangerous force, fail to provide proper oversight when force is used, and enforce the law based on race.
  • Incidents of officers frequently not reporting uses of force and supervisors offering minimal oversight were also identified in the report.
  • Officers enforce some laws more harshly against those groups than White people doing similar things, with overwhelming statistical evidence showing that the disparities are due to discrimination.
  • The report also highlights a department that has routinely used force improperly and a culture in which sworn officers flaunted their hostility toward protesters during protests between 2017 and 2022.

Deceptions

66%

Examples:

  • The article presents six key findings from a federal review of law enforcement response without providing any context for these findings. The reader is left with no understanding of why these particular issues were chosen as examples as well as how they relate to the broader investigation.
  • The report rebukes authorities for how they communicated publicly about the shooting, but it does not provide any evidence or details on what was actually said by officials.

Recent Articles

DOJ Report: Phoenix Police Department Accused of Excessive Force, Discrimination Against Native Americans and Homeless

DOJ Report: Phoenix Police Department Accused of Excessive Force, Discrimination Against Native Americans and Homeless

Broke On: Thursday, 13 June 2024 The DOJ accused the Phoenix Police Department of using excessive force and discriminating against Native American, homeless people, and racial minorities in its investigations. Officers were found to violate constitutional rights by employing unjustified force against individuals engaged in protected speech and expression. The city has already spent $7.5 million on this investigation. Phoenix police detain, arrest, and destroy property of homeless people without reasonable suspicion of a crime, while also retaliating against individuals during encounters.
Uvalde School Shooting: A Tragic Cascade of Failures and Lessons Learned

Uvalde School Shooting: A Tragic Cascade of Failures and Lessons Learned

Broke On: Wednesday, 31 January 2024 A mass shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, killed 21 people and exposed the failures of police response. The US Department of Justice review found poor communication, disorganization and lack of basic law enforcement practices. Police officers faced a dilemma: use deadly force or try to de-escalate. The report advised careful and coordinated action to minimize loss of life.