4.11 Reader’s Notebook

Race is a touchy, if not the most sensitive, topic to be discussed, especially in the media. Since racism still lives in this country, it is important to highlight that when discussing topics of race. But race does not need to be brought into everything, if not relevant. Those other than whites have been demonized and criminalized in America, and sometimes the media can still do such a thing today. Black Lives Matter protesters are still treated as criminal – even uncivilized people – which is not the case. The pictures shown on TV of Trayvon Martin or Michael Brown were of them with their hoods up or middle fingers to the camera, but pictures of white kids who launch attacks on their schools are shown in suits and described as “good, smart kids”.

And African-American is considered the polite term, even though it isn’t. Because those with European descendants are not called European-Americans anymore. The term resurfaces all of the past oppression black people have faced in America and overgeneralizing with the term “African-American”. Race should not be an issue across the aisle because it is not a matter of different ideologies. At its core, it’s common sense and simple compassion for other human beings. Conservatives retort with “All Lives Matter”, but consider the lives of white males or even fetuses the only lives that do matter. Saying “all lives matter” ignores the current movement and the systemic racism that has plagued this country. It is an obvious fact that all lives matter, but that is not the relevant point at the moment.

As the SPJ articles point out, journalists need to be transparent, like mirrors to the truth. We seek trust from our audience, and that trust can only be fully gained through this transparency. But we also must not be too formal because this makes readers and viewers less likely to engage with us. We don’t want to be statues. It is still shocking that the journalist in the most prominent spot on television, Brian Williams, lied in such a grandiose way that now is entire legacy is tarnished. He should not be treated any lighter than any other journalist because of this; he should still have to follow the code of ethics. And we all should too.

One thought on “4.11 Reader’s Notebook

  1. The documentary we watched on the Michael Brelo case in Cleveland brought to light the terrible corruption and racism raging within the city’s police department. As a citizen of the greater Cleveland area, this case, along with the murder of Tamir Rice, littered the local news and family discussions for months. It’s just something we have to talk about because if we don’t, nothing will be done. Policemen and women accept this job and a concession of their safety, so for Brelo to sob and claim self-defense is absurd. If he was standing on the hood of the car, he had no way of seeing what the pair in the car were doing at the moment he started shooting; there was no visible threat to him from the position. If they had been a threat, he engaged in overkill, built upon a pure need of power and masculinity. Police, of course, should be respected, but anyone who is respected should also be questioned every so often. And the Cleveland Police Department – along with other metropolitan forces – should be questioned. It’s hard for me, nearly a year after the verdict, to see my dad get worked up about how Brelo was acquitted because as Cleveland natives, we feel as if we have our hands tied in fighting this corruption in our law enforcement.

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