On August 9th, 2014 in Ferguson, Missouri a teenage male was shot to death by a police officer. On August 11th in Salt Lake, Utah a 20 year old male was shot to death by a police officer. Just two days apart but what if I was to tell you only one of these fatal police shootings made national headlines. It’s because the media controls all phases of what Americans have access to in our every day lives. They effectively have the influence to tell us what is important and what is not. The influence of the media on society is significant. The media has the capability to structure our perceptions of different racial groups and makes us perceive them differently. For an example 9-11, the media was quick to label all people with a Muslim descent. After
…show more content…
Two days later Dillon Taylor was shot to death by a black police officer. Michael Brown’s fatal death shooting made national headlines but Dillon Taylor’s didn’t. The media had the capability to air Dillon Taylor’s shooting but chose not to. The media has long patterns of racially biased crime stories. Robert Entman from George Washington University pointed out some of the stereotype the media has, “Blacks and Latinos are more likely than whites to appear as lawbreakers in the news- particularly when the news is focusing on violent crime. Whites are overrepresented as victims of violence and as law-enforcers, while blacks are underrepresented in these sympatric roles. Blacks are less likely to be covered than with victims in newspaper coverage of crime.” What we know about race we learn from the media. The media’s socializing effect is clear with the cases of Michael Brown and Trayvon Martian, another young black male shoot and killed. We don’t hear of any white males being involved in violent crimes in the news. The media has labeled black men has “criminal predators” and are looked upon as less than a victim while white men are labeled to be powerful and are
Two days later Dillon Taylor was shot to death by a black police officer. Michael Brown’s fatal death shooting made national headlines but Dillon Taylor’s didn’t. The media had the capability to air Dillon Taylor’s shooting but chose not to. The media has long patterns of racially biased crime stories. Robert Entman from George Washington University pointed out some of the stereotype the media has, “Blacks and Latinos are more likely than whites to appear as lawbreakers in the news- particularly when the news is focusing on violent crime. Whites are overrepresented as victims of violence and as law-enforcers, while blacks are underrepresented in these sympatric roles. Blacks are less likely to be covered than with victims in newspaper coverage of crime.” What we know about race we learn from the media. The media’s socializing effect is clear with the cases of Michael Brown and Trayvon Martian, another young black male shoot and killed. We don’t hear of any white males being involved in violent crimes in the news. The media has labeled black men has “criminal predators” and are looked upon as less than a victim while white men are labeled to be powerful and are