The Power of the Media to Influence Public Opinion

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Police officers are an integral part of our society, they exist to establish and maintain stability and safety for the citizens which are in their jurisdiction. However, that great responsibility does not come without a downside, when people are given power there will always be someone who will abuse it. Our law enforcement staff is no exception to this rule; in 2010 there were 4,861 reports of police misconduct in the United States (NPMSRP). Police misconduct can mean anything from fraud or theft, to sexual assault or the use of excessive force. These are all fairly serious allegations and for many officers these are career ruining. Notwithstanding, there are also many police officers, like the police officers responsible for the famous Rodney King case, who merely get a slap on the wrist for the crimes which they have committed - that is until the media took hold of the case. The media was a very large part of not only the Rodney King case, but also many other cases throughout history. In this paper I will demonstrate several famous cases of police brutality throughout the globe and the influence of both the media and the new emerging forms of social media on both the process and the eventual outcome of said cases.

Tiananmen Square

One of the most famous cases of police brutality in history was easily the events which occurred during the Tiananmen Square protests in the spring of 1989 . This event was started by a group of students who wished to incite a sort of “Cultural Revolution” (Zhao). These peaceful protests included many events of an“American” sort such as rock concerts and managed to unite much of the nation after the death of Hu Yaobang. (Pan 1)

They came from the walled compounds of the Communist Party elite an...

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...rned-from-rodney-king>.

Pan, Philip P. Out of Mao's Shadow: The Struggle for the Soul of a New China. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2008. Print.

Su, Yang. "Uptodate." Uptodate. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 Feb. 2015. .

United States. National Security Agency. Secretary. N.p.: n.p., n.d. Web. 20 Feb. 2015.

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Wilson, Stan. "Riot Anniversary Tour Surveys Progress and Economic Challenges in Los Angeles." CNN. Cable News Network, 01 Jan. 1970. Web. 20 Feb. 2015. .

Zhao, Ziyang (2009). "The origins of the 1989 Student Movement". Prisoner of the State: The Secret Journal of Premier Zhao Ziyang. Simon & Schuster. Print.

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