What to do with all of this power??

“The media has the power to chronicle American history by using journalism as a tool to break down stereotypes, help educate, present the truth and influence the public. The media also can educate people about other cultures and create bridges between people that would otherwise have nothing in common...Journalists have the ability to change people’s lives every day, but how they use their power to influence is crucial.” – Fundamentals of Interactive Journalism Blog

It has been found that the information the media presents to the American public can, indeed, both effectively inform and incite action amidst the American people.  News agendas, in a critical yet disturbing time, were controlled by media giants such as monopolies and conglomerates that ruled the world of journalism and therefore, in a sense, ruled the world.  Now, the public seems to have more say.  However, even when the public cries out for more positive coverage or stories because they feel that the news is depressing or overly negative, the response of the media is to focus on that which is controversial, that which represents the “seed-ier” side of life, that which will invoke disgust (yet interest) and that which typically depicts (and sometimes even glorifies) sexual, criminal, racial or hateful improprieties.  Sometimes, it’s hard to say exactly who is controlling what we see. 

Are producers putting things on the air and in the newspapers because they know we are interested in those topics or are we being convinced that certain issues are important and others are not? 

After the 9/11 attacks on the United States and the subsequent mobilization into an international war, the press initially acted as an effective publicity tool for the government’s war agenda.  Some blame the media for lacking in its overt sense of curiosity and skepticism and “buying into” a war that has caused the country much heartache and has cost us many human lives.  With the deeply entrenched and heavy emotions that were linked to the great losses of the September 11 terrorist attacks, it was easy to instill the natural by-product of a great sense of patriotism and unity in the American people.  Someone came in and invaded our homeland, taking the lives of our fellow citizens, and making each one of us slightly question our sanity and safety.  The press, then, used an appeal to ethos to heighten their effectiveness and convince the American people that a war on terror was exactly what we needed.  Were they right or wrong? That is difficult to determine. There were so many components that played into the development of this on-going war.  However, it is undeniable that the press did have an impact on the thought-processes of the American public.  Even now, nearly eight years after the initial attack, it is easy to conjure up images of embedded journalists rolling across the desert in combat gear telling the story of a war aimed at annihilating an evil enemy.

As objective as we purport to be, it is difficult to be emotionless, especially when it comes to hardcore, heart-stopping, “right-in-the-middle-of-the-action” reporting. 

Yet in reality, it’s all about perspective…the perspective which someone is reporting from, the countless perspectives from which a single report can be viewed, and the perspectives of those choosing what content is and is not supposedly “newsworthy”.  As Melody Spann-Cooper points out, it’s not about entertainment first, it’s about education.  Some things that the biased white media thinks, for instance, are comedic in nature or convey a unique tragic event are very often everyday occurrences for some other minority groups.  In many ways, it can be a positive to have media that specifically represents different interests and races. For instance, I will attempt to show how different medias are specifically geared toward special interests.  I love reading Golf Digest, PR Weekly and health magazines.  The reason I pay homage to these publications is because they speak to my personal interests and things that will affect me.  At the same time, having media that speak to and for minority groups can truly hit home in their daily lives.  While I could read Good Housekeeping magazine, and try to be aware of what is going on in the world of moms and housewives across America, I am more thoroughly concerned and willing to put time into things that will readily affect MY daily life. I pay more attention to publications that cover PR tactics and how to hit a straighter drive down the fairway instead of how to organize my closet, decorate a room on a dime, or save money with coupon-clipping.  Though these are interesting things to know and could even be beneficial for my long-term well-being, it may not be material that sells to GolfWeek’s target publics. 

Even though more coverage of minority groups and the REAL issues plaguing society as a WHOLE today would be much better for the public’s overall mental health, it has not been implemented on large scales for the MOST part because this content is so controlled by producers who are worried about the bottom line numbers of profits and circulation and not usually about the actual people behind those numbers.  A challenge that media professionals must face up to is that of becoming TRULY people-oriented…to reach ALL people and consider where multiple audiences are coming from and what they need.  It is very difficult to get mainstream media to concentrate on a wide array of subjects that will reach more diverse audiences because of the fact that they are catering to specific target audiences.  Even more unfortunately, most times, those audiences are almost completely comprised of white males.

Though times are beginning to change, which can be seen even in the significant and typically positive coverage of President Obama over the course of his presidential campaign, the media tends to still push stereotypical images of minorities, along with the problems and situations they correlate with those groups. Even though a successful, affluent Black male could have absolutely no part in gang activity, heavy crime, or welfare issues, such issues are still those that are very much so portrayed to depict and are, unfortunately, naturally associated with this group.  In the news, groups such African-Americans and also, Hispanics, are usually the first to be connected to thoughts of criminality and unlawful acts. 

Partiality in powerful American systems in the media and even the government can be seen in cases such as Jena Six.  “The Jena Six are a group of black students who are being charged with attempted murder for beating up a white student who was taunting them with racial slurs, and continued to support other white students who hung three nooses from the high schools "white tree" which sits in the front yard.” - http://www.jenasix.org/

While this event was covered locally in Louisiana, for a time, little was known outside of the region about the Jena Six incidents.  In addition, many errors and missteps were made throughout the time when the assault was covered.  Results of the media coverage of Jena Six and the acquiescent rallies and protests that it has stirred could vary.  On one end of the spectrum, necessary discussion regarding the presence of white privilege throughout the American justice system could lead to changes in that system that hark back to the same equal treatment sought by those active in the days of the Civil Rights movement.  On the other hand, however, the recurring thoughts that allegations against the six young men were racially motivated have deepened the divide and grown a heightened sense of resentment in both the African-American and Caucasian communities against one another yet again. 

Also being discussed more heavily in the media are stories surrounding Proposition 8. Due to press coverage and intense feelings regarding the issues in the ballot proposition which supports the elimination of marriage rights for homosexual couples in California, it has become one of the largest-funded campaigns on the state ballot and has gained recognition on the national level.  Also, legal action from gay couples, along with protestors both in support of and against the proposition, has gained coverage with specific news networks. 

In addition, recently, the use of social media outlets has skyrocketed and have become the newest communication tools give new perspectives and support, and in some cases, “shout out” intense opposition to current social situations. For instance, these, coupled with the mainstays of editorials, have been used to not only discuss the singular incident in Jena on December 4, but also to bring up the larger issues of racial discrimination and racial tension that the authors believe ignited and fueled the flame. 

Also, even on social networking sites such as Facebook, petitions and group invites in support of daily happenings and social protests have been circulating at levels of growing intensity. Groups both opposing and in support of Proposition 8 have experienced exponential membership growth.  Simply type Jena Six or Proposition 8 into the Facebook “Search” box and a barrage of results will follow.  

Jena Six:   http://www.facebook.com/group.php?sid=2b67140f5d2ad925a9b1ace6048f94ee&gid=5185996913

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?sid=2b67140f5d2ad925a9b1ace6048f94ee&gid=5299508083

Prop 8:  http://www.facebook.com/group.php?sid=2b67140f5d2ad925a9b1ace6048f94ee&gid=2870190990

 http://www.facebook.com/group.php?sid=7197e529839898a6fb73e7cc6abb4d2a&gid=33334700913

Many of these types of more sympathetic media outlets have shown the possible injustices that have been imposed, for instance, on the Jena Six as it relates to their treatment throughout their arrests and trials, invoking the idea that if they were white, the situation and concurrent punishment would be handled very differently.  A site called glaadblog.org states the importance of equal coverage. 

“It’s important for the media to cover this story and cover it with a fair, accurate, and inclusive.” 

While we must remember that social networks such as blogs, Twitter, etc. cannot always be deemed trust worthy in the information they present and are obviously openly biased, we must also recognize that no news station is truly able to report situations objectively.  These new media forms that both provide information and support for movements are ways to gain fresh and real perspective on the many angles that can be taken on extremely controversial and dividing issues that plague our country today.  An added conflict is that these organizations are businesses and as businesses, they have a product to “sell.”  In order to stay in business, they must communicate that which “sells.” Unfortunately, for those looking for positive, upbeat and equitable treatment of all peoples, this is not what “sells.”      

Just as the coverage of Jena Six inspires a plethora of emotions among vast audiences of people, the media coverage of the Civil Rights Movement both benefitted the movement and hindered its progress, in some cases.  An article published by the Museum of Broadcast Communication states, “As civil rights workers organized mass boycotts and civil disobedience campaigns to end legal segregation and white supremacist terror in the South, white segregationists mounted a counter-offensive that was swift and too often violent. Medgar Evers and other civil rights activists were assassinated. Black churches, businesses and residences with ties to the movement were bombed. Although this escalation of terror was intended to thwart the Civil Rights Movement, it had the effect of broadening support for civil rights.”

While a few newspapers tried to deter people from the horrendous ways that groups such as the KKK were dealing with supporters and leaders of the Civil Rights movement, their coverage actually helped.  It aided the cause by increasing the membership of the “Invisible Empire” because the brutal ways of the terrorist organization were being highlighted and therefore, seen by many people who agreed with the principles that the Klan promoted.  However, on the opposition front, coverage of events such as the vicious murder of Emmet Till and the acquittal of the white suspects in that case led to the augmentation in the ranks of civil rights supporters. 

In conclusion, I want to be a media professional because I realize that people in this field have the incredible opportunity and freedom to speak to and for masses and masses of people.  But we HAVE to remember exactly that…we are talking to and about the daily happenings in the lives of human beings. I, along with others, have an intense desire to create news agendas that speak to a wider variety of people living in real time in real life.  While realizing that as a human being, it is impossible to be perfectly, 100% objective, I must take the initiative to heighten the standards of media tools such as broadcast and print news.  As a media professional, I must require of myself and of my peers more equal and full coverage of an assortment of issues that pertain to multiple groups…not simply the normative standard of an American viewer.  Our world is not black and white, so why should our news be? We live side by side, and even while clashes and tension occur in the cases of some, we continue to coexist.  And peacefully coexist we must.  We need more media outlets that are ready to take on the challenge to portray THAT type of coexistence. 

For more information, please see: 

Fair Media Coverage: http://glaadblog.org/2009/03/06/media-coverage-of-prop-8-hearings/

Reporting Civil Rights: http://www.museum.tv/archives/etv/C/htmlC/civilrights/civilrights.htm

http://blogs.journalism.cuny.edu/interactivefundamentals/2008/10/16/the-media-and-the-civil-rights-movement/

Images obtained:

Equal love: http://election2008.advocate.com/2008/11/seattle-rallies.html

Civil Rights Issues: http://gayspirituality.typepad.com/.a/6a00d8341d27db53ef010535f1d268970b-800wi

Civil Rights Movement: http://www.museum.tv/archives/etv/C/htmlC/civilrights/civilrights.htm

"Little Africa on Fire" - The 1921 Tulsa Race Riot

                              “Someone set the night on fire”

“Ethnic Cleansing-Tulsa Style”

               

                    “from hope to homeless, overnight”

“Your country is shooting at you” are words a six-year-old little girl should never have to hear.  However, the reality is that these words were spoken amidst an act of terrorism and violence in our own state.  58 years after the end of slavery, segregation remained and the KKK was turning Tulsa into a stronghold, yet Black Wall Street was thriving. But an incident in an elevator would spark a massacre on Greenwood Street that would be recorded as one of the worst race riots in American history.  The biggest problem today is that this horrendous event remains the “best kept secret in the white community of Tulsa.”

 May 31, 1921, Black shoeshine boy, Dick Roland, supposedly “attacked” Sarah Page, a white elevator operator, and was quickly accused of assault.  The only charge required in the primarily hostile atmosphere in Tulsa was that a Black man assaulted a white woman and drastic action was automatically taken.  The boy was arrested and to be lynched.  That night, the attempt by Black Americans to protect one of their young, would finally give the white community a reason to “exorcise Blackness from the Tulsa community.”

As white citizens brought their children to Greenwood Street to watch the massive destruction, Black children hid under beds as hooded men looted their homes and ignited their houses on fire.  People hid in chicken coops to avoid stray bullets. Children watched their fathers be dragged away and murdered.  Machine-gun fire filled the air and hundreds of Americans were slaughtered. 

To further exacerbate the situation, the National Guard that was originally sent to calm the riot joined in the rage.  The American people betrayed their neighbors and the American “government turned its back on its citizens and its own Constitution.”  A community was wiped out for speaking out against terrorism while the government did nothing to prevent the acts, protects the rights of the Black community, or provide punishment post-deed.

After the riot was somewhat pacified, insult was added to injury in a truly outrageous way.  Black men were asked to clean up the Greenwood District. When none came forward, all Black males without formal employment were FORCED to clean Greenwood without pay, a situation which too-greatly resembled the holocaust of slavery.  Graves were dug for the deceased without dignity, bodies likely poured into mass graves or dumped into the Arkansas River.

Even worse, for more than eight decades the Black community has felt it needs to remain virtually silent about the issue in an effort to avoid further animosity and retribution.

This film was created when a few special people finally realized that “you can’t fix what you don’t know is wrong.” The documentary was produced to raise a much-needed awareness of a horrific event in history that people have chosen to forget about, to “wake up the conscious of America.” 

“Not Nazi Germany… Not Darfur… This is Oklahoma…”

 No one wants to take responsibility for what happened in Tulsa over 80 years ago, just as no one wants to take responsibility for the countless lives lost when the institution of slavery reigned in our nation.  Survivors have filed multiple suits with America’s best legal minds representing them, yet the Tulsa race riots remain as the ONLY ethnic-based atrocity that has failed to receive government reparations. 

Well…true reparations…

Approximately 118 survivors were given a bronze medal of distinction inscribed “Survivor of the 1921 Race Riot”.

It has been asserted by courts as high as the Supreme Court that nothing can be done in this case because survivors were “sleeping on their rights” for over 80 years. 

“The Government has chosen to sit this one out.”

BUT someone needs to realize…

“I didn’t do it…but I have a moral responsibility to correct it.”

The movie was intended to keep the story alive and get help and support for survivors. 

What needs to be done is to secure justice for those who have already passed…80% of those survivors interviewed for the documentary had died by the time the documentary was made.  For those who still have to live with the vivid memories of the Tulsa race riot, let us help them obtain justice “before they die.”

Pictures obtained from the following sources:

"Black Wall Street" : http://pumabydesign001.files.wordpress.com/2009/02/blk-wall-st1.jpg

"Nab Negro for Attacking Girl in Elevator" : http://www.subliminal.org/tulsa/NabNegro_Tulsa-paper.jpg

Children left homeless : http://www.robdedob.com/images/blackwallst3.jpg

"Running the Negro out of Tulsa" : 

http://www.blackpast.org/files/blackpast_images/Tulsa_Race_Riot__1921__Ok__Hist__Soc__.jpg

Portrait of Otis Clark (Survivor) : http://archive.uua.org/news/2002/images/020411survivor.jpg

accept all types...not stereotypes!

Sunday, February 22, 2009

Film:  Lakeview Terrace

Viewed around 7:30 p.m.

RE: Inter-racial relationships

I hadn’t realized the depth of the premise of the movie (which included an African-American cop hedging himself against his next-door neighbors, an inter-racial couple) until watching it.  It was very interesting to see exactly what point of view certain people are coming from in regards to particular kinds of relationships.  

Monday, February 23, 2009

Personal Conversation with C. B.* at 10 p.m.

He said: “It was good seeing you today at the gym.  We usually don’t see a lot of girls actually workin’ hard in the weight room.”

 

Tuesday, February 24, 2009

Personal Conversation with my Caucasian female roommate who is dating an African-American male

Took place from 12:30 p.m. – 2:45 p.m.

RE: Inter-racial relationships

Internet: Youtube.com video: McCain calls Obama “that one”

Viewed at 11:45 p.m.

Obama is readily objectified through McCain's use of language.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rkykrDu32Wo

 

Wednesday, February 25, 2009

Film: Boyz in the Hood

Viewed in African-American Studies class, Blacks and the Movies (W 3 – 6 p.m.)

Throughout the movie, constant references were made in regards to females as being “bitches” and “hoes”--à gender portrayal.

Personal encounter: The HUFF

Basketball games at 8 p.m.

All White male team versus all Black male team were playing a pick-up game...the Black team won.

 

Thursday, February 26, 2009

Music: Playing at “At The Beach” Tanning Salon at 7:15 a.m.

HD Radio à Song played: Don’t Trust Me by 3oh!3

Lyrics: Don’t trust a hoe

Never trust a hoe

Won’t trust a hoe, won’t trust me!

Shush girl

Shut your lips

Do the Helen Keller and talk with your hips

Television: America’s Best Dance Crew

MTV Series viewed at 9 p.m.

Quest Crew vs. Flipbook (all-male dance group versus all-female group)  

At the conclusion of the round, the judges commented on the fact that the females were able to display “athleticism,” while athleticism seems to be expected in the male groups.

http://www.mtv.com/videos/misc/345332/fly-khicks.jhtml#id=1605911

 

Friday, February 27, 2009

Billboard for a new housing development outside of McKinney, Texas: Savannah Homes

Seen while traveling east on US 380 at 3:30 p.m.

The ad pictured an all-white family (with two blonde-haired, blue-eyed little girls) smiling happily at the camera looking “picture perfect”.

 

Television/Commercial: Church’s Fried Chicken viewed at 5:55 p.m.

Following the sitcom My Wife and Kids

Featured predominantly Black and Hispanic people in advertisement while selling fried chicken.

Unfortunately, it does not surprise me at all that there remains today excessive amounts of stereotyping in the media.  Regrettably, media outlets of every kind have taken it upon themselves to formulate images that then readily define people as parts of groups instead of as unique individuals.  These images compartmentalize people, putting us in boxes that are overwhelmingly difficult to break out of because of society’s willingness to follow trends and take the “easy way out.” This approach lacks understanding, consideration and respect for others and their true identities.  It requires dedication and a willingness to work to more fully understand people on a deeper level to recognize that many of these dangerous stereotypes are very harmful and hurtful for the people of our society.  Others are not the only people affected by media’s static images… they are constantly attributing certain characteristics about every single type of person.  Everyone is affected by them.  I am a Caucasian female and I am stereotyped in certain ways as well.  Not only does my field of study throw people off sometimes, but I have also gotten extremely horrendous questions regarding my motivations in taking on my African-American studies major.  I have purposefully placed myself in a position that has allowed me to more fully understand the workings of the world around me by participating in-depth in studies of race and gender.  Yet, people don’t want to let me stop at the fact that I simply want to learn how to look at the world around me in a different way than most others see it and the people who are walking through life in it.  However, when people see a young Caucasian female in classes dominated heavily by people of divergent races, they start to raise questions.  One of the most ghastly questions I get a lot is if I’m in it because I’m a “jersey chaser.”  Well, if you went by society’s stereotypes; then yes, you would assume I was.  However, that is not why I am here and that is not why I am interested in erasing stereotypical boundaries that detach and separate people.   I have been questioned about my group of friends which DOES include those of different races and my willingness to involve myself in cultures that are not familiar to many people. For me, the possibility that I have formed close friendships with these individuals based solely on them as people, rather than the color of their skin, their hobbies, or the stereotypes they may be haunted with is undoubted. Yet people continue to ask why I have chosen this path. It saddens me that people even feel the need to ask.  My response to them is “Why not?” And even more, “why WON’T you do this, too?” This answer is simple for many people…comfort. We are comfortable with our assessments made on first judgments of people around us, largely based on societal stereotypes. We are comfortable with our group of friends, at our comfortable table, in our comfortable corner in the Student Union.  As my group of friends has continued to become more and more diverse, the topic of inter-racial relationships (friendships and intimate) has become popular in discussion and has been more noticeable in things happening around us, especially media outlets portraying these relationships. It’s quite unfortunate that people today can rarely form relationships without them being typified and defined by the stereotypes that they carry with them.  

It is also unfortunate that the media continues to promulgate the images such as the favorite foods of African Americans being fried chicken and watermelon; that star athletes are black; that optimal happiness is achieved by the blond-haired, blue-eyed family of photogenic darlings and that women are portrayed as “bitches” and “hoes.”  Were it not for the constant barrage of billboards, television advertisements, hit songs on the radio and magazine covers reinforcing all these negative attitudes, society might have a better chance to overcome these adverse ways of judging and segmenting people.