Twitter mocks shoddy Associated Press treatment of Renisha McBride verdict

The Associated Press was criticized on Thursday for its online posts regarding the verdict against the Michigan man who shot and killed 19-year-old Renisha McBride, the Huffington Post reported.

In reporting on 55-year-old Theodore Wafer's conviction on second-degree murder charges for killing McBride out of "fear," the AP posted this update on Twitter:

None of the AP's three tweets to its story on Wafer's conviction, in fact, mentioned McBride by name:

The framing of the AP's updates was quickly blasted by other Twitter users, leading to the creation of the #APHeadlines tag, which fueled both mocking impersonations of "AP style" and a critique of examples of racial bias in journalism:

This is an actual example of @AP reporting. Retweet to fight journailistic racism. #APheadlinespic.twitter.com/1jMn0LxfXV

— Nostradeptus (@adept2u) August 7, 2014

RT @AP: Man's Front Door Files Lawsuit Against Family of #RenishaMcBride for Aggravated Assault of Knocking #APheadlines

— Dr. Goddess (@drgoddess) August 7, 2014

BREAKING: Woman violently beats Police officer's fist with her face. #APHeadlines

— Elon James White (@elonjames) August 7, 2014

Too bad we don't have to make all these up! #APHeadlinespic.twitter.com/sEQT3cQCxj

— Oshawn Jefferson (@etwom) August 7, 2014

Unruly Bus Passenger Removed by Law Enforcement Officials #APHeadlinespic.twitter.com/kZueUDyigj

— NIGris Elba (@hosienation) August 7, 2014

*Sigh* Why do we think perhaps racism is still a problem. #APHeadlinespic.twitter.com/BDAljValp6

— Oshawn Jefferson (@etwom) August 7, 2014

The AP has not released a statement on its earlier tweets, but appeared to have deleted most of them in favor of this modified update:

Jury convicts Michigan man in killing of unarmed woman on his porch (rewords language from previous tweet): https://t.co/2nyobBY4Fx

— The Associated Press (@AP) August 7, 2014

Thursday's incident marks the AP's fourth online gaffe in three weeks. As the Postreported, the most recent incident was a tweet last week regarding a bombing in Gaza that killed 15 people that included the phrase, "Ticket me Elmo." An AP spokesperson subsequently said the agency was "reviewing [its] procedures" following the mistake.

[h/t The Urban Daily]