A list of 78 attacks "executed or inspired by" the Islamic State group that the White House said "did not receive adequate attention" from news media included a November 2016 attack at Ohio State University, despite widespread coverage of the event.
Somali-born OSU student Abdul Razak Ali Artan, 18, drove a car into a crowd outside a classroom building on Nov. 28 and then attacked people with a knife, injuring 13. He was shot and killed by OSU Officer Alan Horujko within minutes.
More than 10 stories about or referring to the attack have appeared on News5Cleveland.com, and TV coverage included numerous stories as well as live reports that interrupted regular programming.
Those stories include:
- 11 injured, suspect dead in attack at Ohio State University
- Police ID Ohio State attacker who injured 11
- Ohio State officer praised by officials for ending attack
- OSU attack suspect felt 'scared' to pray in public because of negative stereotypes about Muslims
- Ohio State attacker's anti-America Facebook rant eyed as motive in campus attack
- Names of 13 Ohio State attack victims released
- Trump to visit Ohio State attack victims
- Was Ohio State attack motivated by terror?
- Did Ohio State admin go too far when asking for compassion toward attacker?
- Authorities investigating OSU attack as latest in string of Ohio terrorism activities
- FBI investigating ties between Ohio State attacker and ISIS
- ISIS claims Ohio State attacker was one of its 'soldiers'
- Ohio State community comes together for vigil
News 5 was far from alone in covering that attack. It received attention from local news outlets around Ohio and major news outlets across the country.
The White House released the list of attacks officials felt received inadequate coverage following claims by President Donald Trump that the media of deliberately minimizing coverage of the threat posed by the Islamic State group, the Associated Press reported.
"You've seen what happened in Paris and Nice. All over Europe it's happening. It's gotten to a point where it's not even being reported," Trump told a group of military leaders and troops during a visit to the headquarters for U.S. Central Command. "And in many cases, the very, very dishonest press doesn't want to report it. They have their reasons and you understand that."
Trump, who has made relentless criticism of the media a hallmark of his presidency, did not explain why he thinks news outlets minimize attention on such attacks.
Later, White House spokesman Sean Spicer tried to tone down the president's remarks, saying it was a question of balance: "Like a protest gets blown out of the water, and yet an attack or a foiled attack doesn't necessarily get the same coverage."
Attacks on the list that had high death tolls were given blanket coverage, such as the Brussels bombings in March, the San Bernadino, California, shootings in December 2015, and the Paris attacks in November 2015. Some with a smaller death toll, such as two attacks in Canada that killed one soldier each, were covered at the time and well known.
The AP could not verify that each of the incidents had connections to the Islamic State group. The list appeared to be hastily assembled, including several misspellings of the word "attacker."
The White House did not point to any examples supporting Trump's contention that terrorist attacks were "not even being reported." Less than half of the 78 incidents the White House listed occurred in Europe.
