Copy/pasting police press releases is is the opposite of journalism

WTVR carries water for the cops as RPD brass angles to renew its Flock contract

Author

Dave Infante
February 24, 2026

A Flock device downed in Church Hill. | Dave Infante

On February 17th, WTVR published this this article by reporter Joi Fultz:

Virginia Living magazine editor Hope Cartwright killed crossing the street; Richmond driver charged

Hope Cartwright, 23-year-old Virginia Living magazine associate editor, was killed in a hit-and-run crash at Cary and 2nd streets in downtown Richmond.

www.wtvr.com/news/local-news/hope-cartwright-feb-17-2026

On February 18th, 2026, WTVR reporter Jon Burkett published this post on his professional Facebook account:

Jon Burkett/Facebook (highlight added)

Both these items include substantial material that was either paraphrased or (in Burkett’s case) copied word-for-word from press releases issued by the Richmond Police Department. Neither included attribution that would make clear to readers that RPD was the source of this information—itself a direct contradiction to the Society for Professional Journalists’ advice to journalists to “avoid press release journalism that merely regurgitates official sources.” On February 19th, I submitted the following inquiry to WTVR news director Sheryl Barnhouse:

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