Why Did the Truth-Driven Media Run from the Story of a Murdered Journalist Once His Killer Was Arrested?

On October 2, the news flashed across the nation and had been a hot topic on social media. Area journalist Josh Kruger was a victim of a home invasion, shot more than half a dozen times, and ultimately collapsed outside on the sidewalk before being pronounced dead at the hospital. It was a jarring event involving the media, the conditions in that city, and the possible social issues of homophobia or of cities that were seeing the results of lax law enforcement. 

This was a tale tailor-made for the press, and initially, they ran with it. Kruger had been homeless in Philadelphia before turning his life around and ascending to become a beacon in the community. He had an advisory role in the mayor’s administration, working with the Office of Homeless Services. He was also lauded by the press for becoming a journalist, working with publications like the Philadelphia Inquirer, The Philly Voice, WHYY, and Philadelphia Magazine, where he wrote about homeless issues, LGBT𝜋 issues, and drug addiction. His was a story that needed to be told.

Then notably, the media stopped telling it. The energy behind his story and the investigation into finding Kruger’s killer began after a warrant was issued for Robert Edmund Davis days later. Davis, at the time, was said to be a youth that Kruger had been trying to help, but then not long after we saw the press walking away from the story. Once a manhunt was underway there was no breathless coverage in the press. As news comes out that police have now arrested Davis we see a tepid approach by the press that begins to explain the shift.

NBC News said in its report that police arrested a “teen”, and described Davis as someone who had been an “acquaintance” of Kruger’s. This is a deeply curious approach considering Davis is an adult (he is 19), and that the two men were known to be rather involved. Why is NBC News framing this as a possible random killing involving a youth? In their reporting, there is this quote that begins to shed light.

His mother, Damica Davis, told The Philadelphia Inquirer that if her son did kill Kruger, there’s no excuse, noting “it’s tragic what happened, but I feel like my son is a victim in this, as well.”

What is taking place is the press – which loves to cloak itself with the claim of holding to the truth and the facts – has shied away from the facts of this case once realities came to light. A possible motive for the attack on October 2 is that Kruger and Davis were said to be in a relationship. The Davis family has said that there are a number of troubling details.

Just over a week after the murder, relatives stated the two men were in a relationship, one that was possibly abusive. Drugs were allegedly involved, and the family says Robert told them Kruger had been threatening to post lurid videos of him online. They also say that Kruger had been plying Robert for years now, allegedly grooming the youth since he was 15 years old. 

You can almost hear the squealing of tires when the press slammed on the brakes of the coverage at that stage. We now see at play the framing of a story that came back and tripped up the press, and we also see the adjusted application of journalism. Kruger’s death was approached from a number of selective angles; social constructs, city policies, and violence towards a journalist were all beginning to be explored.

Once this became a domestic disturbance – one with disturbing particulars – we see the interest in the story dissipate. A man they had heralded became a toxic figure and this truth could no longer be reported. The press that loves to tout how they cleave to the facts while condemning the actions of others, immediately ran off when facts became something they could no longer use.