The situation I am choosing to discuss for blog 4 is the horrific incident involving Trayvon Martin. Ethics and diversity played a huge role in the coverage of this story. The second case I will touch upon is the story involving the Asian woman who was not permitted to stay at the Airbnb she rented due to her race.
When it comes to the many cases of African American people getting shot by the police, culture and diversity come into play. In 2012, when Trayvon Martin was disgustingly killed, many newspapers and individual “journalists faced a number of blockbuster news stories with race and culture difference at their core” (Poynter.org, 2012). Because of this, they struggled to come up with coverage that would bring someone like Trayvon justice. They could not report personal opinion, especially if they were white, and they could not provide false facts to the public. Many papers struggled to release something worth appreciating, causing modern media to have a bad image because they did not know how to handle a news story such as this one.
News coverage about the killing of Trayvon Martin started as a short–lived, local news piece, but through strategic activation of traditional broadcast media and participatory media activism eventually became the most widely covered story with a strong racial component over the last five years (Graeff, Stempeck, Zuckerman, 2014). The Orlando Sentinel reported on the story only to say ‘“two men were arguing before shots were fired”’ (Poynter.org, 2012). We all know that is not what fully happened. The next day, they released a story including Trayvon’s age, hometown, and furthered their story on the arguing stating that there was fist fighting. The paper failed to release Zimmerman’s name because he was not charged. We discussed that topic in class many times, but, in this situation, he should have been mentioned. The Miami Herald reported on the story and said he was shot at a convenience store and got a quote from his uncle. They did name Zimmerman. What the newspapers failed to note was the race of the two people who had roles in this situation. The difference in race is what fired up this horrible murder to be one of the most well-known cases involving a difference in race. It stirred the nation when it came to news coverage and people/races turning against each other in riots. But, it also brought people together due to supporting Trayvon.
The main issues that journalists found themselves struggling with when it came to covering news on Trayvon Martin are the social justice imperative, the lack of accurate context through diversity, and the need for accurately impactful coverage (Poynter.org, 2012). Journalists want to prove social justice when reporting because that is their duty. They have always known that due to it being one of the most dominant ethical rules of a journalist’s career. In the beginning, many news sources were not providing the full story on what actually happened because this was such a touchy subject. They did not want to show any bias within their stories and did not want to report opinion. Because there was a difference in race, they did not want to report something ‘wrong’ due to how diverse this story was. But, in the end, they should have covered how diversity was a huge part in it. From this learning experience, newspapers did attempt to cover similar stories with higher quality, ethnically diverse information.
The case mentioned in class about the Asian woman who was not able to stay in the Airbnb that she rented was absolutely ridiculous. The fact that people are okay with discriminating someone because of their race is not okay in any situation. According to Wong, Lai, Nagasawa, and Lin, 1998), “the extensive attention given to the image of Asians as a model minority, there has been surprisingly little systematic empirical evidence on the perceptions of other racial groups towards Asian Americans and their social interaction with Asian Americans.” But, for the non-Asian woman who turned down the Asian, who was also an American citizen, there is no need for evidence to prove her racist mind and actions. Luckily, Airbnb is pushing “to combat racial discrimination” (CNN.com, 2017). But, that does not take away the pain felt by the woman who drove all the way out to her rented house and was turned down due to her race. This is a highly diverse case and if I were in the woman’s shoes who rented the house, I would be astonished and pissed off beyond belief. This should not happen to anyone, no matter their race, gender, or sexuality for that matter. In my opinion, CNN covered this story very well. The fact that they included the word ‘racist’ in their titles proves they wanted to show how diverse this story actually is.
In conclusion, both of these stories involve diversity due to the differences in races. The messages sent to me are harsh ones, but they are stories worth knowing about. Both stories dealt with two people of different races. One was black and one was not. One was Asian and one was not. The important thing for journalists to do is include the diversity that lies within stories, not hold back on it. It can only make a story stronger if it’s covered the right way: unbiased and not opinionated.
Cuevas, M., & Levenson, E. (2017, April 8). Airbnb bans host who made racist remark, referenced Trump. Retrieved November 8, 2018, from https://www.cnn.com/2017/04/08/us/airbnb-cancel-asian/
Deggans, E. (2010, October 23). Why ethics and diversity matter: The case of Trayvon Martin coverage. Retrieved November 8, 2018, from https://www.poynter.org/news/why-ethics-and-diversity-matter-case-trayvon-martin-coverage
GRAEFF, Erhardt; STEMPECK, Matt; ZUCKERMAN, Ethan. The battle for ‘Trayvon Martin’: Mapping a media controversy online and off-line. First Monday, [S.l.], jan. 2014. ISSN 13960466. Available at: <https://ojphi.org/ojs/index.php/fm/article/view/4947>. Date accessed: 09 nov. 2018. doi:https://doi.org/10.5210/fm.v19i2.4947.
Wong, P., Lai, C. F., Nagasawa, R., & Lin, T. (1998). Asian Americans as a Model Minority: Self-Perceptions and Perceptions by other Racial Groups. Sociological Perspectives, 41(1), 95–118. https://doi.org/10.2307/1389355