Movements and the Media

Cassidy Selep
cs743115@ohio.edu

It seems as if since I was a child, technology has been evolving. Because of the evolution of technology, it is only natural for the media to evolve along with it. A major development in technology that has transformed the media is live-streaming videos.

The article written by Washington Post's Caitlin Dewey and Abby Ohlheiser emphasizes the examples of live-stream videos in the recent past. A few of the examples were from organizers for the Black Lives Matter Movement.

The Black Lives Matter Movement began in 2013 after the acquittal of George Zimmerman for the murder of Trayvon Martin. The movement began to gain more recognition in 2014 after the murder of Mike Brown by a police officer in Ferguson, Missouri. This was due to the use of videos and live-stream videos to get the word out about the protests happening.

Photo courtesy of Black Lives Matter

The Washington Post article mentions Michael Kevin Bautista that live-streamed a Black Lives Matter protest in Dallas, Texas using Facebook. Live-stream videos and social media have had the greatest impact on the media and on organizations like Black Lives Matter. With these advances in technology, the media has greater access to sources as well as the truth. For organizations like Black Lives Matter, these advances can get the word out quickly and nationally. It is easier now than ever to start a conversation with the entire nation.

Because of the advances in technology and the greater ease for the everyday citizen to contribute to the media, organizations have also adapted to the current climate. For example, the organization Channel Black has emerged. Its goal is to train people to intervene with the media in order to understand Blackness in America.

Channel Black wants to diversify "the faces of people identified as experts and featured on television, radio and in print media discussing and intervening on important and polarizing issues that impact marginalized communities."

The organization wants to teach people how to not only use technology like live-steaming videos, but also how to have a conversation with the media. They understand that they must work with the media to achieve its goals rather than working as two separate entities.

There has been, of course, some backlash on the use of live-stream videos. The Washington Post article mentions that on the Black Lives Matter Facebook page for Minneapolis, some had commented that posting videos showing violence can cause post-traumatic stress disorder or be disrespectful to the family of those affected.

I believe that with organizations like Channel Black, the issues with live-stream videos can be resolved with public education.