Press Groups Seek Investigation of St Louis Police Treatment of Journalists

Press groups including the Radio-Television Digital News Association have called on the mayor of St. Louis to include the treatment of reporters in the city's investigation of how police handled riots there. That came in a letter to Mayor Lyda Krewson.

The mayor pledged to investigate police conduct during protests in mid-September of the acquittal of a former police officer's shooting of a black man, Krewson has also called for a separate investigation by the US Attorney's office. The press groups applauded those, but added that "thorough consideration" of press treatment needed to be part of the equation. The Committee to Protect Journalists said 10 members of the press were arrested while covering the protests according to a database that tracks press freedom.