Revisiting Summer 2020: Amid a Worldwide Pandemic, our Media “fed the fire” to Nationwide Protests
By: Keegan Hartman
It was a summer that none of us will forget for as long as we live, at least I will never forget it. It was the only time in my life that my family had randomly decided to take a vacation because of many of the things that were happening in our nation.
(Disclaimer: we decided to travel to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina for a week back in July of 2020, but abided by strict COVID-19 protocol in the process of our brief getaway).
Obviously, the pandemic was at one of its peak times in the Summer, but also our nation dealt with far bigger issues, primarily surrounding the continuous outcry for justice in light of the murder of George Floyd at the hands of law enforcement. Unfortunately, we live in a society where, for hundreds of years, minorities have dealt with racism, discrimination, and social injustice, which still exists. However in 2020, having lost countless names at the hands of police brutality in years past, names like: Eric Garner, Michael Brown, Trayvon Martin, Freddie Gray, and Breonna Taylor, we witnessed people ,who obviously, had grown tired of their verbal demands for justice not being met by the legal system. Then, after the murder of George Floyd, whose life was taken at the hands of a white police officer, we saw countless Americans unify to protest social injustice as one. However, for the majority (those that witnessed the protesting unfold from their homes) the media had seemed to have shown these nation-wide protests [seemingly] through two different lights: protests that were conducted in a unified and peaceful manner, but also, protesting in an inappropriate and aggressive manner.
It started back in May of 2020. In the days following Floyd’s death, specifically on the nights of May 27th and 29th, we witnessed some the metro parts of Minneapolis-St. Paul, MN go up in to flames, and this was done at the hands of citizens/residents who resided in some of those areas. Not only did these two nights bring on mass destruction in some metro parts of Minneapolis, including acts of arson, violent encounters between protest demonstrators and police, and even acts such as looting. Also, these first two nights would mark what would become nearly a week long of civil unrest across the nation, and in some cities, even longer.
While a majority of the demonstrations were led by activists, professional athletes, and celebrities, showing peaceful and powerful examples of unity- our media often painted a different narrative to the story unfolding. For me, I recall the looting that went on in Brooklyn, NY. I remember sitting in my living room with my dad, switching between both Fox News and CNN as they covered the city-wide, 12-hour (give or take) lockdown for the city of New York. As you could probably guess, with the continuous coverage that had been given to these inappropriate acts of protesting prior- the protests including the looting, the violence, and arson- where the news stations situated their reporters that night, violence (among other things) was/were bound to ensue.
I felt that our trusted media “fed the fire”. These images of fires, looting, the violence- I felt all of this could’ve been prevented had our media given light to those demonstrating positive, more appropriate actions when it came to protesting. Plus, some of these journalists were put in to harms way, one I could remember actually being detained by law enforcement himself while covering the violent protests. Further, it felt like any time that there was looting transpiring in a city, news outlets would often display minorities looting buildings and stealing more so than any other ethnicity. I’m not justifying these heinous acts, but I felt our media lacked a “double-standard” when displaying everything that was unfolding during those protests. Again, I can’t stress the magnitude that these protests had on their communities. Billions of dollars in damage, communities losing businesses, even lives being lost from these protests… and our media keeps the camera rolling. Very rarely did I hear any advising by news reporters, like: “Steer clear of this area, as it is very dangerous,” or “the 12-hour lockdown is now in effect, so please, seek your residence”. Ironically, these reporters stayed put just to get a story off, filming the damage, the violence, and didn’t even bother to intervene when they saw heinous acts on the streets unfolding, they just “avoided the area”.
I believe that some of the terms we learned in lecture this week, such as Excitation Transfer Theory can relate to the actions that were displayed during the George Floyd protests. As lecture states, the excitation theory is: “when we misattribute the arousal from media to other things and have an increase physiologically.”
We saw more and more protests, it seemed more demonstrations of looting and arson, mostly because that was the only perspective viewers were consuming. If anything, others watching that type of news coverage may feel inclined to contribute by what they see: looting local business, assaulting innocent people, and setting fires to buildings. Yet, that is if individuals had a protest to participate in, but many people said that those protests included a lot of individuals who were not even from the area, and were there to participate for the wrong reasons.
References:
(2020, May 31). NYC stores destroyed by looters, riots during George Floyd protests. Retrieved March 02, 2021, from https://abc7ny.com/nyc-stores-destroyed-by-looters-riots-during-george-floyd-protests/6223350/
Tracy, T., Parnell, W., Poggio, M., Moynihan, E., Williams, N., & McShane, L. (2020, May 31). Outraged protesters Rage across NYC in second night of Fiery protest of George Floyd death in Minneapolis. Retrieved March 02, 2021, from https://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/ny-george-floyd-protests-frustration-officials-20200530-djhr4o7iefdvlews4g32jika34-story.html