The freddie Gray story in the media - Essay Example

The Freddie Gray story in the media Outline Introduction The section introduces the topical issue by explaining the issue and providing adequate background information before making a claim in the thesis statement. BodyThe body is consists of a number of paragraphs that discuss the topical issue in detail. It borrows from existing literature and the analysis of the author thereby proving the thesis statement. ConclusionThe conclusion summaries the discussion in the body thereby marrying the claims made in the body to the thesis statement.

Work citedThe section lists the works cited in the body Introduction Freddie Grey was a twenty-five year old American man who died on On April 12, 2015, while in the custody of the Baltimore Police Department. Mr. Grey’s death added to a wave of African American deaths while in police custody thereby causing massive protests in Baltimore among other cities in the United States with large numbers of African Americans. The media has preyed on the story of Freddie Gray’s murder and the subsequent wave of riots and protests in Baltimore.

The coverage of the story in both local and international media remains biased with numerous journalists failing to maintain objectivity in order to unearth the facts in the case as present the story objectively as the discussion below portrays. The media plays an integral role in the society. Key among the primary roles of the media is agenda setting which in turn leads to the formulation of opinions. The media influences public opinion and the media in the United States played a role in enhancing the wave of violence and riots in Baltimore following Freddie Grey’s story.

Objectivity lacked in the coverage of the story with the media including the CNN following a wave of narratives that could sell. The media for example began by propagating the story showing videos of Mr. Grey’s arrest and alleged maltreatment. Showing the videos was not a mistake. However, the media failed to play its watchdog role by exercising caution. They carried out extensive analysis of numerous other cases of African Americans who have died while in police custody thus making Mr. Grey a growth to the statistics.

Such biased yet widespread coverage of the story enhanced the spread of a particular narrative that shows that the predominantly white police service in the country continues to target African American minority. This contributed to the outbreak of the riots in Baltimore. None of the numerous journalists cared to investigate the background of the various suspects who have died in police custody. Some were hardcore criminals and the police had issues to suspect Grey. After contributing to the outbreak of the riots in the city, the media adopted yet another skeptic position in their coverage of the story.

Fox News anchors for example claimed that the city was under blockade by “thugs”. CNN on the other hand even assigned an African American reporter to cover the story claiming that he was safer and could blend in the mayhem. The media once again showed a lack luster attitude with no media attempting to investigate the history of police brutality in Baltimore thus inform and possibly influence policy formulations in the future. Instead, the media termed every protestor “a thug” and failed to present their grievances (Robinson, www.the root.com).

In retrospect, the media portrayed immense bias and lack of objectivity in their coverage of the Freddie Grey story. Objectivity dictated that the media cover the story as it occurred. Furthermore, the media should have investigated and provided adequate background to the story. The media informs the public and influences opinion. As such, the journalists should have considered the possible ramifications of the coverage and even killed the story. Instead, the media upheld the phrase that when it bleeds it sells thereby using the Grey story to maximize profitability.

Works citedRobinson, Rashad. Media’s Biased and Dehumanizing Coverage of Baltimore Fails to Tell the City’s Real Story. The root.com, May 1 2015. Website. http://www.theroot.com/articles/culture/2015/05/freddie_gray_s_death_the_media_s_bi ed_coverage_of_baltimore_failed_to.html