Alex Semancik
as477018@ohio.edu
The racial violence in Charlottesville in 2017 highlighted an ongoing conversation in the United States of America, how should journalists cover hate speech, racism, and violence? The answer lies within the journalistic code of ethics itself- be objective and report the truth. Haphazardly slapping a news story together filled with inaccuracies, generalizations, and subjective biases is beneficial to no one. Even if that means taking time, and not rushing to be the first one to get the story out. Especially in the instances of hate speech, racism, and violence the time and precision to craft a true and objective news story should be utilized.
Language should obviously be a very large component in creating a news story about something like the racial violence in Charlottesville. Journalists bear a large responsibility in communicating events like this to their audiences in a transparent and objective manner. This responsibility can appear even more daunting considering that the specific words a journalist uses in an article can impact many people and the way they think. That is a lot of power, and as such language in a story should be extremely precise and objective. As Al Tompkins and Kelly McBride state in an article from poynter.org, "Be wary of subjective adjectives and unclear labels, like far-right or alt-right. Instead, describe what protesters were doing, what they were saying, and what they were demanding. Be precise. It is not enough to simply call the marchers White nationalists. Explain that they chanted Nazi slogans including “Sieg Heil,” a victory salute used originally by Nazis at political rallies." As that quotation explained, it is better to describe the situation precisely and objectively rather than turn to hasty generalizations that may offend people.
Photo Courtesy of globalr2p.org
Politics is another component that should be considered when creating a news story that may have to do with hate speech, violence, and or racism. Similar to language usage, discussing politics should be very precise and specified. Politics brings a new issue into play: partisanship in media. Referring to an article from politico.com, the discrepancies in Twitter headlines between left and right news outlets are astonishing. Reinforcing the large divide in American politics between the left and right that already exists is not in the best interest of the people. Both left and right media outlets are profiting off of engraining their respective ideologies into each respective pole in an extremely polarized American political climate. This is unethical and though it is largely in practice I don't believe it should be.
Hopefully, as time goes on, covering issues or events relating to racism, violence, and hate speech in a truthful and objective manner will become second nature to journalists. If that is the case, the public will receive increasingly accurate and beneficial news, and journalists will gain greater trust and integrity.
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