On a rainy, dark night in Sanford, FL, little did Trayvon Martin or George Zimmerman know how their altercation and its culmination would affect the news and media in the United States. Large numbers of journalists and public speakers hastily abandoned their ethics and professionalism as they climbed aboard run-away trains and piled onto assorted bandwagons in their rush to jump to conclusions, side with “right fighters’, make information fit their ideas and try a man in the media. The espousal of personal feelings, conceived past wrongs, painting misleading pictures, making assumptions and passing judgment, without knowing the facts, and even altering them to fit an agenda seemed to be the Soup de jour. Inequitable coverage of the Martin-Zimmerman case has helped cause the, somewhat normal, cultural fissures in the US to lean toward becoming more of a schism. The media unfairly influenced the public in this case. Tommy Christopher reported about the firing of two journalists from NBC due to intentional editing of facts. Jeffrey Burnside, a reporter for NBC originally reported about Zimmerman’s statement in a 911 tape. Lilia Luciano also reported for NBC, and presented on a “Today” show segment about the released 911 tapes, both Burnside and Luciano insinuated Zimmerman made racial slurs in the tape. Below is a transcript of 911 tapes that each reporter played for the public and what came from the actual 911 tape. Sadly, it is obvious that the tapes were edited to suit the way that the reporters wanted to paint Zimmerman, as a racist. Played by Burnside: Zimmerman: This guy looks like he’s up to no good. He looks black. Played by Luciano: Zimmerman: This guy looks like he’s up to no good or on drugs or something. He’s got his ... ... middle of paper ... ...ccessible to anyone wanting to find them, trying to paint a white vs. black racial scenario when in truth there was no “white” player. Editing the truth in order to imply racial hatred, when in retrospect it seems there was none, is despicable and does nothing to help our country or its people. Instead, it aids in developing more of a racial divide. Works Cited Christopher, Tommy. "NBC News Correspondent Fired Over A Second George Zimmerman 911 Tape Edit." Mediaite NBC News Correspondent Fired Over A Second George Zimmerman 911 Tape Edit Comments. Mediaite, 3 May 2012. Web. 16 Mar. 2014. Stableford, Dylan. Yahoo News "Trayvon Martin Shooting: Debate over Photos Escalates." Yahoo! News. Yahoo!, 28 Mar. 2012. Web. 16 Mar. 2014. Eversley, Melanie. "Jesse Jackson at Fla. Church: Trayvon Martin Is a 'martyr'" USA Today. Gannett, 25 Mar. 2012. Web. 16 Mar. 2014.
Emmett Till, who was born on July 25, 1941, was 14 years old when he was lynched in Mississippi after allegedly flirting with a white woman. He had traveled from his hometown of Chicago to visit his relatives in the South when two white men arrived at his family’s home and dragged him out at gunpoint.
The documentary has won nine major awards and was an Academy Award nominee for “Best Documentary Feature” in 2017. The scene is recalling the public’s reaction to the wrongful killing of Trayvon Martin and the resulting effects it had on society. Martin was fatally shot by George Zimmerman in 2012 in Sanford, Florida. DuVernay utilizes news reports, police interviews, and footage of the courtroom in 2012 to establish ethos. The citizen accounts are from when the attack occurred and their reaction to the situation.
Trayvon Martin was killed by a neighborhood watchman, George Zimmerman. He says that it was self defense, but after the tragic phone call was released to the media everything took a huge turn questioning if it was a hate crime. If Zimmerman would have stayed in his car that night then Trayvon would still be alive. It could not be self-defense if all Travon had in his hand were skittles and some tea. The whole thing blew up right after it was released to the news. Then when it was time for the trial it was live on television. During the trial and after the verdict is when the social media started to go crazy.
The case involved a neighborhood watchman, who happened to be on duty when he saw a young black man wearing a sweater jacket called a “hoodie”, walking through the neighborhood. George Zimmerman, the watchman, who was twenty-eight years old at the time, called authorities about a suspicious character walking around in his neighborhood. The authorities told him not to do anything; just continue with his rounds and not worry. Zimmerman, however, decided he would take matters into his own hands. He confronted the young man; they got into a brawl and Zimmerman pulled out a gun and shot and killed Martin. That premise will play a role in this paper as an argument as to why George Zimmerman should have been convicted of committing a crime. Even if the jury could not have reasons to convict him of the second degree murder of Trayvon Martin; they had other choices.
The Casey Anthony trial has been arguably the most controversial case since the trial of O.J. Simpson and has been speculated over ever since the verdict had been given in July of 2011. It was decided by a jury of her peers that Anthony was not guilty of murder, for the death of her daughter Caylee. Many believe that Anthony should have been found guilty however, very little Americans actually comprehend the justice system.
Gender and Race play the most prominent role in the criminal justice system. As seen in the movie Central Park 5, five African American boys were charged with the rape of the a white women. In class decision we’ve discussed how the media explodes when it reports cross-racial crimes. The Central Park 5 were known everywhere and even terms were being made up during the process such as wilding. Also, during one of the class discussions it was brought up that victims of crime are of the same race of the perpetrator. However, the media likes to sensationalize crime of the victim being of a different race, because it makes for a good story. By doing this, the media does create more of a division of race. As seen in the video Donald Trump was trying
The Zimmerman case allowed me to be aware of something that was right in front of me. At a young age, my mother's significant other was arrested and imprisoned for "trafficking drugs". My mother had always maintained that he was initially arrested due to racial profiling, as there was no sufficient evidence to warrant the police to search his car. Despite this information being told to me as a child, I remained blind to the effects that such a system of injustice could have on your economic status, mental health, etc. However, I believe that the outcome of the Zimmerman trial opened my eyes to this effect. I believe that Trayvon Martin's family most likely received the same financial and emotional stresses due to the racial injustice associated with their experience. However, they had lost their son. Following the shooting of Trayvon Martin, I began to understand the effect that systemic racism could have on the lives of Black people, and how it had already been affecting
The New York Times bestseller book titled Reasonable Doubts: The Criminal Justice System and the O.J. Simpson Case examines the O.J. Simpson criminal trial of the mid-1990s. The author, Alan M. Dershowitz, relates the Simpson case to the broad functions and perspectives of the American criminal justice system as a whole. A Harvard law school teacher at the time and one of the most renowned legal minds in the country, Dershowitz served as one of O.J. Simpson’s twelve defense lawyers during the trial. Dershowitz utilizes the Simpson case to illustrate how today’s criminal justice system operates and relates it to the misperceptions of the public. Many outside spectators of the case firmly believed that Simpson committed the crimes for which he was charged for. Therefore, much of the public was simply dumbfounded when Simpson was acquitted. Dershowitz attempts to explain why the jury acquitted Simpson by examining the entire American criminal justice system as a whole.
Network news appears to convey more stereotyped impressions, a narrower range of positive roles for blacks than for whites. Representations of whites in network news are more varied and more positive than of blacks, not because of conscious bias, but because of the way conventional journalistic norms and practices interact with political and social reality. The findings raise questions about the journalist ability to represent the reality of black America while adhering to the professional practices that currently shape network news. Mainstream news portrayed African American as criminals, homeless beggars, welfare queens, ghetto-dwelling gang members, or drug addicts in American Society. Perpetuation of young black men as dangerous has been planted in the mind of American society not only by words and images projected by journalists but also in the mainstream news especially. Television particularly the news has the least positive representation of African Americans especially young males. When television became a house-hold item in the early 1950, this was a dark time in American History because there were huge racial tensions brewing in the south. The news show African American mostly young males getting abuse, hosed by police and attack by police dogs during a peaceful protest. It gives the negative images that African American was unlawful people and need to be dealt with swift action. Most of the time African Americans weren’t resisting but the news media depicted the images that they were and police were just doing their job to keep the peace.
To citizens, Darren Wilson killed Michael Brown of out racial prejudice. To police officers, Darren Wilson killed Michael Brown out of self defense. The media focused mainly on the citizens negative reactions, consequently labeling Darren Wilson as a racist murderer. The officer received numerous death threats, putting his life in danger. Ben Brumfield and Brian Todd, reporters for CNN state, “Fellow officers have been by [Darren Wilson’s] side day and night, as deadly threats have driven the former Ferguson police officer into hiding…” This is a prime example that media can ruin the lives of officers, as well as put them in legitimate
A crime being committed is the first event to initiate our criminal justice system. On June 12th 1994 a double murder was reported at the residence of Nicole Brown Simpson the ex-wife of the then beloved Orenthal James (OJ) Simpson. It was discovered that Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman had been brutally murdered and the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) began their investigation, this being the second step in our criminal justice system.
The Impact of the Dred Scott Case on the United States The Dred Scott Case had a huge impact on the United States as it is today. The Thirteenth and Fourteenth Amendments have called it the worst Supreme Court decision ever rendered and was later overturned. The Dred Scott Decision was a key case regarding the issue of slavery; the case started as a slave seeking his rightful freedom and mushroomed into a whole lot more. 65
The shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson Missouri became a controversial media sensation. The shooting created uproar and mistrust towards police officers. Many believed the shooting was unjustified and even an act of racism on the behalf of the police Officer Darren Wilson. The Department of Justice issued an investigation in order to understand the basis of the shooting and to decide whether or not to charge Darren Wilson in the shooting. Despite the evidence and the investigation which portrayed the shooting as an act of self- defense, the shooting still remains controversial.
The difficulty I had with this case, was I had multiple sources to turn to for information. I had to choose which source was reliable because I did not want misconduct information. The media sources had about the same variety of information about Gabriel’s case, but added small details that the alternative networks did not include. For example, each news network added more information on how Gabriel was found by the paramedics. The L. A. Times reported that Gabriel had a cracked skull and three broken ribs while the Huffington Post did not include this information. The L.A. times also elaborated more on the story by reporting more facts about who was involved in the investigating. They included names of teachers, and police officials that was involved. The differences between how news network presented the facts in the case proved the different ways we are influenced by the media, and the information we gather depends on where we get our stories
Research also suggests that the media is a major decider in what crime cases get chosen to air on the news. While it was previously thought that what went on the news was arbitrarily picked or based on the most interesting cases, it turns out that it is not quite the case. J...