Aussie College Baseball Playa Killed By Bored Teens In Ok Narrative

Re: Austrialian College Baseball Player Killed By Bored Teens In Oka

So if only the media had said "watermelon soda" instead of "iced tea," Zimmerman would have walked free?

 

Re: Austrialian College Baseball Player Killed By Bored Teens In Oka

Is it defensible?

Something was wrongly identified in the police report. Upon release of the crime scene photos, we learn it was wrongly identified.

For over a year, the media continues to wrongly identify it.

Show me another instance where this would be acceptable?

 

Re: Austrialian College Baseball Player Killed By Bored Teens In Oka

Where did I defend it? My issue is with your assertion that the soda/iced tea mistake is the only reason Zimmerman was arrested.

 

Re: Austrialian College Baseball Player Killed By Bored Teens In Oka

Any of you who have bought a bottle of Sprite also deserve to be shot dead on your way home from doing so:

http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/nation/2006-10-18-lean_x.htm?csp=34

"Since then, some teens and young adults in East Texas and beyond have been getting high on drinks in which the key ingredient is a prescription cough suppressant that contains the opiate codeine. DEA Special Agent Doug Coleman, who tracks the drug from the agency's headquarters in Arlington, Va., says users typically mix an ounce of the syrup with Sprite, a sports drink or a regional soft drink called Big Red, then plop in a Jolly Rancher candy and pour it over ice. The opiate produces a feeling of euphoria and causes motor skill impairment that makes users move slowly or lean over."

 

Re: Austrialian College Baseball Player Killed By Bored Teens In Oka

The skittles and "iced tea" was an important part of the narrative.

They seemed like such simple items. Wholesome in their own way.

They became part of the imagery.

Don't believe me? Here's a photo Buzzfeed went with 4 days after the crime scene photos were released:



http://www.buzzfeed.com/mjs538/10-reasons-everyone-should-be-furious-about-trayvo

 

Re: Austrialian College Baseball Player Killed By Bored Teens In Oka

Do we know it was Southern Style tea? Do we know if Trayvon had a share-size bag of Skittles or regular? If not, why not?

Why isn't anyone asking those questions?

 

Re: Austrialian College Baseball Player Killed By Bored Teens In Oka

Yes.

Because if Charles Blow was approached, and told, "Charles, here's the story: we have a young man who went to the store to buy the ingredients to make some 'fire ass lean', and he was killed on the way home," Blow's article never gets written.

The narrative wouldn't have worked. Trayvon wouldn't have been sympathetic enough. Folks wouldn't relate to him the same way.

Your son -- or even your hypothetical son, who might have looked like Trayvon -- might make a 7-11 run to pick up some skittles and iced tea. But, your son wouldn't be out in the rain buying the ingredients for a "fire ass lean".

This story never gets traction, and never results in an arrest, unless Martin is portrayed as an innocent young man* and Zimmerman isn't defined as a white man.

(And, none of this is to say that Trayvon wasn't a normal 17-year-old kid, who got into some trouble from time to time. He didn't "deserve" to be killed, and what he bought that night doesn't change that. This is about the media's willingness to invest in a case, and they were willing to invest in this case because of the "powerful" narrative.)

 

Re: Austrialian College Baseball Player Killed By Bored Teens In Oka

Unless your theory that Martin smoked a blunt on the way home is true, until Zimmerman stopped him, Trayvon Martin WAS an innocent young man. When did Florida outlaw skittles and soft drinks?

 

Re: Austrialian College Baseball Player Killed By Bored Teens In Oka

I not only didn't dispute this, I specifically added a note regarding this.

It's not that he was "innocent" or not.

It's all about what narrative the media would bite on. And, to get them to bight, they needed a "powerful" narrative, in which Trayvon was both "innocent" and sympathetic in a way people could relate to.

There are lots of murders every year. Only a few go national. This one did because it was packaged and sold to the media. It had the necessary ingredients to interest the national media.

 

Re: Austrialian College Baseball Player Killed By Bored Teens In Oka

On a quick Google search, USA Today, held up here as a beacon of truthful journalism, itself referred to it as "iced tea" several times after it published the crime scene photos.

You want to know why? Because it doesn't fucking matter what drink he was carrying. Unless you want to say that killing a kid carrying a Sprite is somehow different than killing a kid carrying a Coke.

Did you know apples are often used as bongs? Therefore, every time someone is killed from now on, it is inherent on the media to ask if the victim was carrying an apple.

I'd ask if you're willing to say that, but I think it's pretty clear you are.

 

Re: Austrialian College Baseball Player Killed By Bored Teens In Oka

People think what they think. Many erroneously. But the lack of knowledge, here, about how journalism works on a board that began as a home for journalists is incredible. Truly.

I'd write a story about it, but the media cabal in the sky is busy and doesn't have time to email me a narrative.

 

Re: Austrialian College Baseball Player Killed By Bored Teens In Oka

I demand to know what was in John Lennon's pockets at the time of his death. Why has no one bothered to find out?