It’s been almost impossible not to hear about
the past two weeks.
From the
o the
to
, the murder of the Florida teen has dominated airwaves and national conversation.
Some have questioned the amount of attention the story has received, saying that it reveals a bias in favor of certain types of stories and against others.
Within the media, the Poynter Institute
Wednesday to discuss the issue.
explained the context:
“Two separate incidents involving journalists who work for Gannett and ESPN have renewed attention to the issue of how journalists should exercise their right to free speech.
Earlier this week, editors and publishers at several Gannett papers said that its journalists had violated the company’s values by signing petitions calling for Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker’s recall. ESPN, meanwhile, dropped its ban on staff posting photos of themselves wearing hoodies to show solidarity with Trayvon Martin.
These news organizations’ decisions raise interesting questions: Which of these types of speech should journalists feel free to exercise? And should journalists who are covering these stories limit their speech more than those who aren’t?”
The conversation with
of Reuters sparked thoughtful and seemingly heartfelt conversation.
Yet the bigger problem for media may be found in an image Facebook user John Maki posted on his page:
I did a quick Nexis search and found that the gruesome 2007 murders of Channon Christian and Christopher Newsom has been the subject of hundreds of articles, including this recent one about jurors’ disgust at the killers’ being granted a new trial.
But public perception appears to be otherwise.
Consider the following comments to Maki’s image, which also elicited more than 16,600 likes:
Sally Spaulding That is so heinous. I had not heard of this crime. It should of gotten coverage everywhere.
Simon Peirce This incident occurred in January 2007, was extensively reported in Louisiana and Kentucky local press but wasn’t picked up by the National Press. Even FOX didn’t pick it up nor did Limbaugh or Beck comment on it, I don’t recall them being ‘[shrinking violets’ when it came to doubling down on Black crime (Particularly if it in some way could be linked to President Obama!)
Eric Clayton This is my media right here. I rarely venture toward t.v. Remote for much more than weather. We dont need controlled media as long as there are social networks like facebook!! This also spares you from being dumbed down in state mandated lies!!
Clayton’s comment may be the most revealing, and for media, an urgent reminder of the need for us to be deeply and constantly engaged in social media.
I’m not talking about as a supplemental promotion vehicle after our stories are completed.
I’m not saying just as a reporting tool to gather information about what is happening online.
I’m talking about being in the trenches listening to and synthesizing people’s information, questions and concerns.
As a special feature, Forbes
of influential media outlets.
The map did not include either Facebook or Twitter.
To me, that is a significant omission.
I’ll cop to having a dog in the fight, and I do believe deeply that what my journalism colleagues does matters, and, more basically, can be a vital part of a functioning democracy in which information is freely exchanged.
At the same, I’ll also say that we are headed toward utter irrelevance if we do not find a way to make social media an integral of our work.
After all, as
of USA Today
, the Travyon Martin story that is now the subject of scrutiny for receiving too much media coverage only started getting a lot of attention after the family, you got it, started pushing it actively on social media.
