The Truth Behind Protests and Excessive Use of Force in the Media

Adam Subotin

as921212@ohio.edu

Setting the Scene

Between the COVID-19 pandemic and the on-going Black Lives Matter movement, many of this year’s major media coverage have been at the hand of viral social media videos or photos.

In the early months of 2020, viral videos flooded Twitter of the initial COVID-19 lockdown taking place in Wuhan, China. Soon after, Europe, particularly Italy, was hammered with the virus where more viral videos surfaced showing how communities came together despite being on lockdown.

Of course, social media networks such as Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and Instagram have made up a large part of identifying important stories through the important notions of citizen journalism, however, 2020, in particular, has been one long learning moment when discussing the truth behind photojournalism and video in media.

Excessive Force and Protests Captured

Photos and videos of excessive use of force and even murders committed by police around the nation have been captured and shared on social media for some time now.

However, the 2020 killing of George Floyd that was captured by 17-year-old Darnella Fraizer and shared across social media, sparked the beginnings of the Black Lives Matter movement which would eventually ignite protests against racism and police brutality across the globe.

During these protests several more videos and photos by photojournalists and citizens have been shared of even more police brutality however due to the already aggravated circumstances, many of these photos have been debated as to the root cause or actions leading up to the captured moments.

The ethical debate of what to trust and what not to in the progression of the movement are important questions, but in light of the movement, also demand the truth to further the cause of the Black Lives Matter movement.

One major example of citizen journalism that has exposed the truth is the viral video of 75-year-old protester Martin Gugino who after being shoved to the ground by Buffalo Police, received serious injuries including major head damage which caused Gugino to bleed from his head.

The video captured by a local NPR affiliate was brought to the forefront of an ethical dilemma when Buffalo police tweeted claiming one person had “tripped and fallen” however the video told a different story.

On the contrary, there have been cases such as the viral incident with Mark and Patricia McCloskey where the video hasn’t told the full story. Mark and Patricia McCloskey are known as the “gun couple” after an incident just outside of St. Louis, Missouri where the couple brandished arms in defense of their property from passing protesters.

Mark and Patricia McCloskey brandish arms against Black Lives Matter protesters
Photo by Laurie Skrivan 

The viral video shows the two-point arms with hands on the trigger at the crowd, however, what the video doesn’t show is that the crowd was moving through a private, gated community.

Angles and context are as explained in The Atlantic by Ian Bogost are key to framing opinion and truth in video and something that in this era is vastly important in determining the truth in photojournalism and video.