This week, our class discussed Civil Rights and the important role that media has played in it, for better or for worse. We discussed events such as the March on Washington, the Brown v. Board of Education case, the Emmett Till murder and the Montgomery bus boycott.
The press certainly had its less-than-stellar moments during the Civil Rights movement. For example, when covering the March on Washington in 1963, the papers all failed to even mention Martin Luther King Jr.'s famous "I Have a Dream" speech. However, the media was important to spreading the word for Civil Rights. Television, in particular, gave people around the nation a visual of the situation in the southern states. This helped bring people to action. And it helped make our country better.
Yet, racism certainly still exists here and the problem was brought back to the front page after Trayvon Martin's death. Now, I'm not going to go into the moral issues concerning this case. I only want to focus on the way the media covered it. In my opinion, the media made a bad situation even worse with the way they handled Trayvon Martin's shooting at the hands of George Zimmerman.
Skepticism is an important characteristic for journalists to have and there was a distinct lack of it with Zimmerman and Martin. I understand that everybody wants a straightforward story, with clear-cut heroes and villains. But sometimes, stories are more complicated and when they are, the media should acknowledge it.
Both Martin and Zimmerman were treated unfairly because reporters let emotions eclipse the truth. Even when delicate issues like race come into play, journalists need to provide honest facts, not just the juiciest story.
For more info:
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/07/14/zimmerman-trayvon-martin-nbc-news-column-rieder/2516251/
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