The Media In Dear Martin By Nic Stone

Carlos Cortez-Batres

Ms. Spada

ENG101

May 12 2023

The Effect Of The Media In Dear Martin

Have you ever thought about how much the media manipulates the stories we hear? From altering certain details to hearing only the negatives and never the positives, the media manipulates everything we see. The novel Dear Martin, written by Nic Stone, tackles this concept. The media stretches the truth with unrealistic scenarios. They tainted Justyce’s reputation and made appear as a negative person. The novel Dear Martin, written by Nic Stone, tackles this concept. The media stretches the truth with unrealistic scenarios. They tainted Justyce’s reputation and made appear as a negative person.

The murder of Justyce’s best friend Manny is one of the struggles

People start distrusting and thinking he was the cause of everything. “The man was defending himself from thugs,” said Tison’s neighbor […]. “I've known Garrett for twenty-five years. If he says those boys had a gun, they had a gun.” A fellow police officer, who asked to remain anonymous, claims the indictment is nothing more than a publicity stunt at Tison’s expense. “They're out to make an example of him. Prosecutor pulled the race card, and the grand jury bought it hook, line, and sinker.” Stone, page 122-123. People start to act weirdly around Justyce, as if he was a threat. They start to avoid him and side eye him, they move away from him when he moves closer to them, and they seem to just have a general disdain towards Justyce. Everyone’s behaviour towards Justyce noticeable changes after the special report and the follow up report that were aired on the news. This shows how easily other people are manipulated by the media. They heard that Justyce was the instigator on the news and instead of trying to fact check it they all agreed with it despite not knowing who Justyce is and the whole story. They just wanted someone to blame so they took the first person they

The media has painted a bad picture of Justcye by spreading and popularising lies about him and making Garret Tyson (the cop who shot Manny) look sympathetic. This has caused people to think of Justcye as a bad kid, leading to him being constantly pestered by people who think he is a bad kid. People start to act weirdly around Justyce, as if he is a threat. This changes after the special report and follow up report that were aired on the news, showing how easily other people are manipulated by the media. They agreed with the report despite not knowing who Justyce is and the whole story, instead of trying to fact check it. They just wanted someone to blame, so they took the first person they got. The novel follows Justyce, a young man who is unlawfully arrested by a police officer and spends several hours in jail before being bailed out by SJ's parents. The second event is the untimely death of Manny, Justyce's best friend, who was shot by a police officer because of his prejudice and the colour of their skin. Justyce has experienced discrimination, but is powerless to fight back, as the cops are in too high of a position of power for him to fight back. The media will still try to manipulate the situation to villianise him. In conclusion, the media has the ability to make us believe whatever they want us