Back in high school newspaper class, we were taught that a news article included the who, what, where, when, and why of timely and consequential — newsworthy — events and trends. That’s exactly what Shelly Bradbury, crime reporter at The Denver Post, did in her recent article about DoBetterDNVR, an anonymous social media account that features videos of people behaving badly on Denver Metro streets.
She’s taking heat this week from DoBetterDNVR and its supporters for investigating the contributors and content of the controversial influencer that boasts more than 144,000 followers on Instagram and Twitter (now called X) and has caught the attention of city officials.
Rather than criticize a journalist for doing her job, DoBetterDNVR needs to do better.
If its administrator wants to be the “citizen journalist” he or she claims to be, then the social media organization must try to meet the same principles real journalists strive for: transparency, accuracy, and objectivity.
Many law-abiding Coloradans, including myself, frustrated by vagrancy, urban camping, vandalism, public nudity, theft, and open drug use appreciate DoBetterDNVR’s exposure of such lawless behavior and its support for “tough-love solutions” that discourage it. Ultimately, DoBetterDNVR will lend greater legitimacy to its efforts by rectifying the deficiencies brought to light by Bradbury’s article.
First off, just come clean. Journalists own their work. The names of reporters are in the byline. If an article is incorrect, the reporter must correct it and publicly acknowledge the error. Wrong often, they will lose their reputation and their job. Transparency is fundamental to accountability for journalists and opinion columnists like me. We must stand by our work.
The administrator of DoBetterDNVR should do the same, but thus far has opted for secrecy. Like most newspapers, The Denver Post requires that information be accurately attributed, rarely giving anonymity to sources and only as a last resort. Someone claiming to be the administrator of DoBetterDNVR called The Post but refused to identify his or herself or provide confirmation supporting that claim. Advised of the paper’s policy regarding attribution, the caller then refused to give an interview.
Other DoBetterDNVR contributors were found through their requests to city agencies under the Colorado Open Records Act and were contacted. They said they were not administrators, but confirmed they had contributed in the past as the article states. Two of the most frequent CORA requesters now live in other states. Is this relevant? Readers can decide. It is the reporter’s job to provide the information.
This isn’t doxing and DoBetterDNVR and its backers know it, their caterwauling notwithstanding. Doxing is the malicious exposure of a person’s address to enable potentially life-threatening harassment and abuse; naming names is investigative journalism. An organization that posts videos and photographs of people without their permission doesn’t have any room to complain about being identified. People who claim to be citizen journalists must stand by their work with a byline and endure the negative comments and threats that come with the job.
Such transparency helps uphold the second journalism standard — accuracy. As Bradbury’s article points out, DoBetterDNVR sometimes mixes facts with conjecture, rumor, and outright misinformation. Last year, for example, DoBetterDNVR posts claimed Denver police were too busy to back up Denver firefighters who were forced to engage with Venezuelan Tren de Aragua gang members at two apartment buildings. A city investigation found firefighters did not have such interactions with gang members and have received support from the Denver police in their operations.
Had this been a news article, it would have avoided speculation and provided sources to back up claims. Also, the inaccurate post would have been corrected or retracted, which it has not, at least at this writing.
Who is DoBetterDNVR? Meet 3 women feeding information to Denver’s loudest social media critic
Finally, if the administrator of DoBetterDNVR wants to be considered a journalist, he or she must strive for objectivity, instead of providing a single viewpoint on crime, vagrancy, and associated public policies. While pure objectivity is humanly impossible and journalists often reveal their bias in what they choose to cover, the prominence they give it (above the fold or page 20), who they interview, and the language they use, at least they strive to provide context and multiple viewpoints. Reporters avoid giving their opinion, unlike us columnists.
While no one is perfect, journalists try to capture the whole story. They also provide sources and double-check their facts, issuing corrections when found to be wrong. Journalists stand by their work by putting their name, reputation, and job on the line with every article.
Social media influencers need not even attempt to meet journalistic standards of objectivity, accuracy, and transparency. DoBetterDNVR can continue to be an anonymous site for videos of people behaving badly accompanied by opinion, humor, and semi-accurate information, or it can be journalism, but it can’t be both. If it chooses to be the former, then the administrator cannot grumble when a real journalist calls it out as such.
Krista Kafer is a Sunday columnist for The Denver Post.
Sign up for Sound Off to get a weekly roundup of our columns, editorials and more.
To send a letter to the editor about this article, submit online or check out our guidelines for how to submit by email or mail.