Media Controversy: The Ferguson Case

Intro According to USA Today, on average there were 96 cases of a white police officer killing a black person each year between 2006 and 2012(citation). Some might argue that because these victims were black, police officers targeted them. Americans need to dismiss from their minds that race is a determining factor of violence or threats. The media is the main catalyst for implanting race as an issue in Americans minds. The news media is solely responsible for blacks thinking that they are targeted by white police officers. Recently in Ferguson, Missouri a debacle has taken place between a white police officer and an unarmed black teen. As a result, the news media has promulgated the situation, which has raised immense issues among races.

An example being the CNN headline, “Could you be racially biased without knowing it?” This report discusses the specifics regarding the Ferguson case and how it pertains to racial controversy (Kohn). The news media is directly bringing to light that controversy among races is a key component of the case. Aside from this headline, the media has heavily analyzed the final verdict of the case. The grand jury found Wilson not guilty. As a result of this adjudication, various riots have broken out across the United States. Many blacks have argued that since Darren Wilson was white, he targeted Mike Brown as a suspect. It was because of the news media sensationalizing this police shooting that race was a key factor considered in this case.According to Washington Post reporter, Max Ehrenfreund’s, 1,000 adults across the nation were given a poll online. They were asked if they felt the Ferguson case raised important issues regarding race. The poll results were that 80 percent of blacks agreed that the shooting raised important questions about race. By contrast, almost half of whites said that race was getting too much attention in the discussion of recent shooting (Ehrenfreund). This fact alone shows that blacks and whites disagree, which causes greater

It is unethical of the media to present the concept that all white police officers are prejudiced towards blacks. Darren Wilson is quoted in The Washington Post, saying that Mike Brown charged at him, reached into his pants and as a result Wilson defended himself and raised his 40-caliber Sig Sauer and shot Brown (McCoy). Nowhere in this quote does Wilson mention the fact that Mike Brown was black. One news media organization that is guilty of doing this is ABC news. During an interview with Wilson, a reporter asked Wilson, “Have you ever had any kind of a racial incident?” Wilson responded to this question with a simple ‘No’ (Engle). The problem with the news reporter asking Wilson this question on live television is that it implements the thought in viewers minds that stereotyping is a possible issue for police officers. If the media decides that they want to make the Ferguson case such a big deal, they need to direct their viewers attention away from stereotypes. The media should be focusing on the loss of a human life, rather than the specifics of race. The media needs to understand that if they are going to present stereotypes in their reports, they need to report on more than just one stereotype. Recently in Salt Lake City, a black police officer shot and killed 20-year-old Dillon Taylor, a white male