Ability to Cover Protests

Kayla Ramsey 

kr060616@ohio.edu

The First Amendment of the United States Constitution explains that US citizens are entitled to freedom of speech, press, religion, assembly and petition. However, the current news media has shifted these rights from good to bad, simply by the connotation of news coverage they provide to readers.

Picture source: poynter.org

For example, after the murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis, many news outlets shifted readers opinions about freedom of assembly. Outlets such as Fox News lead viewers to believe that most of the protests were harmful, when in reality, most of the protests that took place around the country were both peaceful and legal. It is an American Citizens right to gather and protest, and the media often makes it seem like gathering is nothing but a nuisance. Fox News posted an article explaining that a white boy with a loaded gun was trying to take control over his city and stop the ongoing “riots”. Tucker Carlson explains that the boy was “to maintain order when no one else would". Carlson also defended the Kenosha protestor, just after the shooting of Jacob Blake.

A great way to exploit accurate journalism is to let the people affected do the talking. For example, when writing about the #MeToo movement, the best way to depict what survivors have gone through is to interview or speak with them, or better yet, publish writings that they produce. Supporting women through their journey by sharing their stories can educate and inspire more sexual assault survivors to come out and share their stories. For example two women who were survivors of Harvey Weinstein’s sexual assault scandal decided to write about their experience in a book called . Little did they know they would be flooded with love and support by readers and other survivors, and winners of a Pulitzer Prize.

 

Journalists from various news outlets often have trouble covering protests without having any sort of bias. For example, if a protest or a movement is considered more democratic, liberal news will cover these events making the people involved seem like heroes and advocates, while conservative news depicts these people in a negative light. On the contrary, if a movement or protest is viewed as more republican, conservative news will depict the people involved as patriotic and good Samaritans, and liberal news will cover them as closed minded rioters.

All in all, there are many biases that occur within covering protests, and sometimes the best way to find out what actually happened at these gatherings is to ask the people who attend them.