Aussie College Baseball Playa Killed By Bored Teens In Ok Narrative

[MisterCreosote]

I also think we should reopen Princess Diana's case. There are a few very concerning inconsistencies.

 

[Boom_70]

Are there still truth-seekers working the Andrew Breitbart death? Or do we need to assign new ones? It may be a while, with all of this newfound demand.

They were pulled off the case to work on The Hastings death.

 

[Riptide]

I just hope the authorities know Tony has been kidnapped again.

 

[MisterCreosote]

After the machine got to snopes.com and planted the story about the fake Trayvon photo, it was only a matter of time before tony got scooped up.

 

[MisterCreosote]

Does anyone have time to challenge The Narrative™ surrounding the Tea Party?

If we're talking about "the media" being complicit in spreading a PR-driven story, it would be an injustice to America to limit it to Al Sharpton and Charles Blow.

 

[Boom_70]

Does anyone have time to challenge The Narrative™ surrounding the Tea Party?

If we're talking about "the media" being complicit in spreading a PR-driven story, it would be an injustice to America to limit it to Al Sharpton and Charles Blow.

Valid question. The thing that's interesting with the Tea Party is that their development
seemed more grass roots than media driven.

 

[MisterCreosote]

 

[YankeeFan]

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

Back to YF for a second: You really do have some points to make about reader perception and what we as "the media" do that causes certain perceptions. That's worth discussing.

Why you chose to wrap those points into your "I'm going to explain how the media really works, in front of an entire message board of media professionals" shtick, I have no idea.

Why shouldn't I make the case here, when so many deny it, or refuse to see it?

And, I get it. 90% or more of news isn't agenda driven, or crafted by PR professionals. (Leaving out entertainment news, restaurant coverage, travel, etc.)

When you were covering crime, you covered what happened. You weren't lobbied for coverage by Al Sharpton, and you didn't let the New York Times set your agenda.

But, for the cases that "go national" it is worth looking into how and why they do. And, for the Times and others, there has to be a compelling reason for them to take it -- and "promote" it.

In this case, a narrative, centered on race, an the "fear" harbored by African-American parents about the safety of their "black boys" is what made the difference.

Blow himself tells us this:

This case has reignited a furor about vigilante justice, racial-profiling and equitable treatment under the law, and it has stirred the pot of racial strife.

As the father of two black teenage boys, this case hits close to home. This is the fear that seizes me whenever my boys are out in the world: that a man with a gun and an itchy finger will find them "suspicious." That passions may run hot and blood run cold. That it might all end with a hole in their chest and hole in my heart. That the law might prove insufficient to salve my loss.

That is the burden of black boys in America and the people that love them: running the risk of being descended upon in the dark and caught in the cross-hairs of someone who crosses the line.

The racial sensitivity of this case is heavy. Trayvon's parents have said their son was murdered. Crump, the family's lawyer, told me, "You know, if Trayvon would have been the triggerman, it's nothing Trayvon Martin could have said to keep police from arresting him Day 1, Hour 1."

This is how a story goes national, and because the folks at the bottom of the news food chain don't realize what is happening at the top, doesn't mean I show show them deference just because I'm an espresso machine repair man.

 

[YankeeFan]

And, while Tony's graphic might not have been the best tool for challenging the narrative, it's worth discussing.

As deck mentioned, part of the narrative was that Trayvon was just a child, and he was stalked and murdered by a grown man, all for the crime of walking home from buying candy and iced tea.

Martin was portrayed as innocently as possible. Pictures -- regardless of how recently they were taken -- of him were released that showed him looking young. He was smiling. He was sweet and innocent.

The skittles and "can of iced tea" were part of this. They were child like purchases. If he had been buying beer, or cigarettes, or the ingredients for a "fire ass lean" it would have damaged the narrative.

Contrast that to the picture of Zimmerman. It was an extreme close up of his face. (I think it was a mug shot, right?) He is not smiling, and looks a little mean.

There are other photos of martin that don't portray him as innocently. And, when they were released, there was push back against their release, because they disrupted the narrative, and that was unacceptable.

When the pictures of Zimmerman's injuries were released, they had to be argued against as well. His injuries were minor. They meant nothing. They had to mean nothing.

We later learned that Zimmerman was basically a wimp, who didn't know how to fight, and though the judge didn't allow it into court, we learned that Martin did know how to fight.

In a fair fight, Martin would have kicked Zimmerman's ass.

But, the narrative says that Zimmerman was on top of Martin, and didn't need to kill him to defend himself. Rather, Zimmerman wanted to kill him.

Zimmerman was a racist. He was sick of "punks" getting away with crime in his neighborhood, and he was going to put an end to it. He was going to kill a "black boy".

 

[Baron Scicluna]

"Fair and Balanced"

 

[YankeeFan]

I like how folks are challenging my point that some news stories are driven by "narrative" and agenda, by providing me with additional examples.

 

[Songbird]

How long before other GZ details emerged nationally, like he had several black family members, and mentored a black kid, etc etc?

This was a month after the shooting:

http://theweek.com/article/index/226131/george-zimmerman-what-we-know-about-trayvon-martins-killer