The nation was faced with tragedy in 2012 with the death of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin. This incident sparked an ethical debate over racial profiling. Not only was race the reason why an innocent boy was shot by neighborhood watch member, George Zimmerman, but it continued to be a prominent issue as journalists reported on the case. Two ethical issues that often come up when discussing this case are accuracy reporting the facts of the case and racial prejudice.
Journalists careers depend upon their reputation as a fair, accurate and trustworthy news source. Following the death of Trayvon Martin, many news publications molded the events into a story that would appeal to the reader. One of the most notable instances was from People magazine. The April 2012 cover of People showed a 12 year-old Trayvon Martin wearing a button up shirt with his hands crossed, and a slight smile across his face. The first ethical issue was that although this was a flattering photo of Martin, it was outdated as he was 17 when he was fatally shot. This photo was widely circulated among many publications. Ethically, this is not the right photo to use to depict the victim. Readers put their trust in journalists and using an inaccurate photo breaking that reliance. The media created a fabricated story where, “this (cover) isn’t so much about showing reality, but rather presenting what they want people to believe. It’s about creating the story that their readers want, rather than what might have happened. It presents a story that sells magazines,” (Smith, 44). The same cover went a step further and printed the phrase “An American Tragedy”, across the bottom of the cover. While yes, anyone can agree that the death of Trayvon Martin is tragic, this phrase came directly from the 1994 Timecover of OJ Simpson. The Timecover, along with the People cover set off many questions of prejudice. As we discussed in class the Timecover is infamous for darkening the skin of OJ Simpson to paint him as a criminal while he was a murder suspect. By using the same words, and drawing many parallels from the cover, Peopleended up firing up a similar response from the public. From the very beginning of the Trayvon Martin case, journalists failed as they attempted to sway the views of the public. The effects of this case are still seen today. Most notably, the “Black Lives Matter movement, which has leveraged potent critiques of contemporary racism, particularly in the context of the criminal justice system,” (Torres 2017). The Black Lives Matter movement continues grow awareness for cases like this where diversity and ethics are not at the level that they need to be to have accurate journalism. The issues of accuracy and racial prejudice are crucial for journalists to get right in order to serve the public.
References:
Torres, M. T., Cannito, C. M., & Rodriguez, D. (2017). Trayvon Revisited: Race, Fear, and Affect in the Death of Trayvon Martin. Sociological Forum, 32, 1112–1126. https://doi- org.ezaccess.libraries.psu.edu/10.1111/socf.12369
Smith, K. Z. (2012). Misrepresentation: An ethics tragedy. Quill, 100(3), 44. Retrieved from http://ezaccess.libraries.psu.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=77709721&site=ehost-live&scope=site