Media Accountability During The Black Lives Matter Movement (1).pdf - Jamiema

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Media Accountability During The Black Lives Matter Movement An Open Letter To TVNZ And All New Zealand Media Outlets As the Black Lives Matter movement achieves worldwide attention, it is imperative to simultaneously criticise our own media in how it inadvertently sides with state institutions, in this specific case the U.S. Police Force. In doing so, the reporting undermines the purpose of the movement itself. The ultimate goal of news outlets is to provide current events without bias - unfortunately we must accept that news can never be purely objective. For the past few days, I considered how best to effectively address the bias present in our news media. Your ‘1 NEWS at Six’ broadcast on Tuesday the 2nd of June will act as evidence for my oncoming argument. To be transparent, I stand with those protesting in the Black Lives Matter movement. I am not alone in condemning your recent broadcast - many of my peers were equally appalled by your approach. Did you know in the U.S. the police homicide rate for Black people is three times greater than that of white people? (6.6 for Black people versus 2.5 for white people). Did you know that 99% of killings by the U.S. police from 2013 - 2019 have not resulted in officers being charged with a crime? These statistics serve as the evidence that police brutality is rampant in the U.S. and that Black people are affected disproportionately. The integrity of journalism is dependent upon evidence. So tell me why you, as journalists, choose not to acknowledge these statistics as you report upon the Black Lives Matter movement? These statistics would aid viewers in understanding the rage present in America thus aiding your content in being more informative and accurate. Contrary to what I suspect you fear, admitting these statistics will not condone your support for the protestors, just merely shine a light on the Black American experience. However, analysing your broadcast, it is becoming increasingly clear to me that you hold little respect for the numerous peaceful protests taking place across the U.S. The segments produced by the One News team predominantly featured footage of violence and arson in hours of the declared curfew. To add, your studio backdrop throughout the report’s entirety were images in the same vein. In choosing to omit footage of the peaceful protests occurring throughout curfew-free hours, you paint the Black Lives movement as one of lawlessness and destruction. Perhaps you will attempt to make the excuse that you were aiming to share the most powerful footage? Well, you shot yourself in the foot when you allowed your reporter, Kim Baker Wilson, to coin those demonstrating outside the White House as “​reportedly peaceful protestors.” This statement blatantly denounces protestors everywhere and was extremely unprofessional. Allowing this careless comment to be made within a news report depicting largely violent imagery is distressingly counter-productive to a movement dedicated to justice. As if this was not disappointing enough, the portrayal of the U.S. police force and the military appears in a positive light when compared to the protestors. I will acknowledge there was dissonance in their representation in this report - however the violence you condemned was directed towards your fellow media outlet, not the citizens suffering at the hands of their own country. The story closes with Alexis Daish reporting live from Los Angeles. However - there are no remnants of teargas or burning buildings. Only calm. Behind her stand the National Guard; there is not one civilian in sight. The nine-minute segment reaches its climactic moment: Alexis praises an LAPD officer for kneeling in solidarity with the protestors. Civility is at last achieved. There is a cruel irony in giving the most important, sanguine moment of your news story to an officer who contributes to the institution literally being called out by the movement. In doing this, you have failed as journalists to realise that Black Lives Matter is not a fight against individual acts of racism - but an entire system. Not only this, but you have taken the cause away from the protestors and placed it in the hands of their oppressors. Your report alienates protestors, ultimately portraying the Black Lives Movement in a dubious light. It is disturbing to me that you would do this to such a just and necessary movement that is fueling a worldwide dialogue on achieving equal rights for Black lives all over the world - including here in Aotearoa. Now, you may try to provide your counter-arguments. First, I am choosing to ignore the BBC-provided segment. Despite its function of providing context, your choice to place it late, but not last, in the report did little to add comprehension to the rage in the U.S. Next, you may argue the news is chiefly events-based. Then why are you omitting the events that show the US police in a negative light? On Wednesday you had the opportunity to report on the death of David McAtee, a Black man killed by police in which both officers had their mandatory body cams turned off. You chose to ignore this story and place your main focus on the violence currently directed towards cops. Again, your viewers are provided with more and more evidence to side with the U.S. police. Social media is being swept by footage and accounts of unprovoked police violence. Major international newspapers are reporting on these stories. Why do you choose to ignore these completely? Silence is violence. This is a popular chant among worldwide supporters of the Black Lives Matter movement. Your omission of such events is silence. Your omission of such events is violence. Your omission of such events paints a clear narrative that is uncomfortably in favour of the U.S. police and state. I would like to end my argument with a quote from Malcolm X, a Black American Muslim activist who was an important figure in the American Civil Rights Movement. I would like you to think about how it pertains to you - the leading news broadcasting service in our country. “If you aren’t careful, the newspapers will have you hating the people who are being oppressed and loving the people who are doing the oppressing.” I demand 1 News take accountability and make a public statement in response to this letter. Notice how I am not asking for an apology. I would like to give you space to defend your journalistic integrity if you see fit. I believe a public statement is warranted as you must not only be made aware of your bias, but let it be shown to the New Zealand public who tune into your reports each evening. To elicit a response, I have created a petition on​ ​change.org​ under the title ‘Demand 1 News ​respond on their Black Lives Matter news coverage.’ Finally I turn to all other New Zealand media outlets - whether you occupy paper, news site, radio or magazine, I am addressing you all. Compare your coverage on the Black Lives Matter movement to that I have discussed of 1 News’ in this letter. Are you guilty of showing some sort of bias in your reporting as well? Do your stories provide the context for New Zealanders to fully understand the importance of the Black Lives Matter movement in the U.S., a country with an extremely complicated history of oppressing people of colour? The Black Lives Matter movement is multifaceted. It is not only concerned with attaining justice for victims of police brutality but dismantling the institutional and structural racism that the U.S. has been built upon. Such a complex movement deserves more than a quarter-page report or a 5-minute debrief. If your media platform has the means to dedicate more energy into illuminating the Black Lives movement, I encourage it to do so. Ensure black activists, professors of black history and progressive politicians are given as much space as the U.S. police, city mayors and president. Consider your representation of black people. Are their stories positive or negative? Finally, allow space for the challenging discussions arising from the Black Lives Matter movement - is rioting justified if it gives way to a revolution? Is it too radical to demand reformation, or abolishment, of an institution that exists to protect and serve its people? Among my peers, the Black Lives Matter movement has accentuated the need to hold ourselves accountable to standing up against the pervasive racism present in our lives. Individuals are not the only ones to be held accountable in this fight - the media too has a role in extinguishing its flames. I look forward to hearing your response. Jamiema Lorimer, 4th June, 2020