How does the media cover hip hop?

NEW YORK (FOX 5 NEWS) - Hip hop and TV superstar LL Cool J held his annual back to school event for kids in Jamaica, Queens. We were there, but most other outlets were M.I.A. Multiplatinum superstar rapper Nas received a prestigious award from Harvard University just days ago. You could read about it online and on his Instagram page, which got more than 27,000 likes. But it didn't make headlines.

That doesn't surprise Hip Hop Ed founder Dr. Christopher Emdin. He says coverage of hip hop artists is generally unfair.

When Lil Wayne's tour bus was shot up in Atlanta, it was breaking news on TMZ. The arrest of hot boy rapper Bobby Shmurda and a dozen members of his GS9 crew was such big news that NYPD Commissioner William Bratton announced it at a police headquarters press conference. Shmurda pleaded not guilty.

The bad news for rapper Joe Budden about allegations made by an ex-girlfriend came from an even more widely accessible platform: social media. Budden says he was demonized and his character defamed with no investigation. Budden, whose new album "All Love Lost" drops October 16, has always been open about his personal challenges, in real life and on reality TV show "Love and Hip Hop New York." That authenticity has earned him a broad and loyal fan base. He told me he has learned to ignore the haters, but recovering from a media hit is tough. He says even after the facts come out, once you're defamed you're defamed.