Journalists and a grieving community can find it hard to coexist, especially if the town's police force is in question

This is not an uncommon sight in Uvalde, Texas, this month. (Associated Press photo by Jae C. Hong)

The Associated Press reports from Uvalde, Texas: "As a knot of journalists stood across from a mortuary witnessing a funeral for a child killed in the Uvalde school massacre, some people passing by didn’t disguise their anger. 'Y’all are the scum of the Earth,' said one woman, surveying the cameras."

"When tragedy comes to town in the 21st century, the media follows, focusing the world’s eyes on a community during its most difficult hours," AP media reporter David Bauder writes. "Journalists are called upon to explain what happened, and sometimes to ask uncomfortable questions in places where many people want to be left alone to grieve. Is it possible to do it better, to co-exist within a moment no one wants to be part of?

"Tempers have flared in Uvalde. One female journalist was told, 'I hope your entire family dies in a massacre.' Some are threatened with arrest for trespassing while on public property. A group called 'Guardians of the Children' blocked camera views, often with the encouragement of police."

That sort of thing has happened at other school-shooting sites, but tensions are higher in Uvalde. Bauder notes, "Questions raised about the police response to the shooting have lengthened the time the shooting has lingered in the news and increased hostility toward journalists." Guillermo Contereras, a senior writer at the nearby San Antonio Express-News, told AP,  “You have people who are supportive of law enforcement,” Contreras said. “It’s a small town; people know each other. All of a sudden people are pointing fingers at the officers you know, so there’s a division.”

Monsignor Robert Weiss of the town’s St. Rose of Lima Parish "said he found the press respectful and has come to understand the importance of its role," Bauder reports, quoting him: “We needed to get the story out there and we needed to keep this story out there. Because in 10 years, what has changed? If anything, it has gotten worse.”

AP journalists Acacia Coronado, Jae C. Hong, Adriana Gomez Licon, Jay Reeves and Eliot Spagat in Uvalde contributed to Bauder's story from Uvalde.