Media Influence On Ferguson

“Ferguson: the take from major media outlets”

The media undeniably influences society’s perceptions of everyday events. Of course, what version of media people look at also influences their views. With the plethora of media and vast array of accessibility of said media, it seems somewhat impossible for major media outlets to offer the exact same perspective when covering an issue. Recently, there’s been an increased amount of small-town issues that have sparked with the help of social media and are now being reported on by most news outlets. One of those events is the shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri. “Ferguson has become more than a municipal near St. Louis: the name is synonymous with the renewed debate about race, policing,

Instead of addressing the racial injustice, they speak of the riots and protests against police officers by black individuals. The tragedy of the entire event isn’t even references in the NY Post, which straightaway appeals to supporters of the law enforcement system, inflaming readers with bold statements such as, “We have two more cops who were ambushed because of their uniforms,” (Inflaming Ferguson, NY Post). Although Washington Times can admit that such an event is a tragedy, they do display more noticeable support for the police departments. They go so far as to admit that, in their viewpoint, “a tragedy occurred, but a crime did not” (A tragedy in Ferguson, but the crime is the work of race hustlers, Washington Times). The appeal isn’t directed towards any civil rights activists with these two news sources, as NY Post has said, “The whole ‘hands up, don’t shoot’ narrative promoted by activists and the media was false from the start” (NY Post). Overall, these conservative newspapers attempted to downplay the severity of the racial tensions in Ferguson and the entirety of the United States as well as advocate support for the police state and enforce the stereotype of black

What made Ferguson a tragedy is different for both sides. Arguably, the death of the two cops in the race riots is what makes Ferguson such a tragedy. Each side wants to appeal to the nation through different means, using the tragedy as a call to action. Unlike the Chicago-Sun Times, which gives a poll of Americans who want to fix the racial inequality, the conservative papers appeal to one’s pathos in order to remediate what has been deemed as a tragedy. “The sad news is that even these cop shootings won’t do anything to get liberal activists and politicians to rethink their instinct to take any anti-cop side… regardless of the facts or consequences for the affected communities” (NY Post). The liberal papers, at no point, bring up the opinions or perceptions of conservative