[BLOG] Counteracting The Media’s Spin Game On Police Brutality/Black Life.
Since Ferguson awoke us from our deep, deep slumber, we have seen black men and women slain by police hands and have their reputations destroyed by the media. So not only do we have to endure police brutality, but we also have to watch the media tear down the victims.
The typical media cycle:
1. Identify victim as the aggressor (without evidence for such or even a statement).
2. Begin tearing down the victim by bringing up their past (only the negative aspects of course).
3. Paint victim’s family as equally terrible people.
4. Silence public outcry by having idiotic reporters explain why victim deserved to die.
To counterbalance this, we need to start creating virtual spaces where we can filter out the nonsense and propaganda and report the facts:
1. Sharing any positive information about the victim and their family.
2. Screencap and save every and anything, especially if there are any witnesses of the brutality/murder.
3. Share any factual information with news outlets (since they seem to be reporting their information off of tweets and blogs maybe it’s time to take advantage of that).
4. Don’t stop the conversation. (As these murders become more frequent, probably even more as it gets warmer outside, we have to keep this conversation going. Share information, discuss, rattle the cage…)
I’ve just gotten hip to how powerful the media machine is, not that I didn’t realize it before, but it’s actual people’s lives that hang in the balance of public opinion. Public opinion absolutely matters when we’re talking about carrying on a movement. The media, ran by corporations who are benefitting the most from this current structure, don’t want people to be conscious of what’s really going on. They don’t want the protests, they don’t want to see children on the front lines, white people on the front lines, black people on the front lines. They rather us be distracted from the reality that black people are being slaughtered out here.
What the underestimated was the power of social media and mobilization.
After watching “Selma,” I absolutely understood that strategy is important, and that includes how to make the media work for the movement. We HAVE to drum up as much publicity on these murders, have to paint police brutality as America’s problem (which it is, but the media will have you believe black “thugs” are the problem and not police).
Folks who have blogs or who are influencers need to get on the front lines and use their voice to spread awareness and keep this movement on the news. We have to force the Government’s hand and to do that we have to occupy the media with this horrifying police problem.