As I’m sure just about everyone is aware, George Zimmerman was found not guilty of second degree murder of Trayvon Martin in Sanford, Fla. The case and subsequent trial have been in the spotlight since the beginning, fueled by the mainsteam media’s incessant coverage.
After the verdict, mainstream and social media erupted, mainly with anger at the outcome. Death threats, against Zimmerman or anyone who supported the verdict, filled up the Twitter feed. I just had to stop and think: Aren’t there bigger issues at play here?
First, what makes this case so worthy of all of the media attention it has received? If it is because a young man lost his life, then what about the other 1000 teenagers who were murdered last year? If it is because Martin was black, then what about the more than 6000 black individuals who were murdered last year?
Second, the media either misrepresented or was completely inaccurate about the facts of the case from the first reports to the trial. Immediately following the shooting, the media claimed that Zimmerman was a white man, only to find out later that he is half-white-half-Hispanic. Next, reports came out that Zimmerman did not sustain any injuries during the altercation before having to issue corrections since Zimmerman was in fact injured, according to police reports and photographs. Further, NBC News and MSNBC deliberately edited Zimmerman’s call to the police dispatcher to make Zimmerman sound explicitly racist.
Third, the reactions to the shooting, coverage, trial and final verdict were appalling. As mentioned, death threats were directed at Zimmerman, the jurors, and even journalists who were considered to support the not guilty verdict. Some individual tweeted that they would accidentally kill a white person to see what would happen. Where is the uproar over these reactions?
Fourth, many blacks banded together to support supposed justice for Martin, claiming that the entire black race was under attack. The movement clung to the image of Martin as a good student who was simply minding his own business. I wonder if the movement would have gained such footing if the media had accurately reported that Martin had traces of marijuana in his system and was only in Sanford with his father because he had been suspended from school. Later pictures were revealed from Martin’s phone which showed him posing with guns. However, this is not the image of Martin that fueled the us-versus-them crowd, even after the verdict.
In my opinion, so many other issues should have been discussed that were largely ignored by the media. Perhaps it is because covering these other issues did not sell views and reads like the hate crime and innocent Martin did.
In expressing this opinion over social media, some responded to me saying that I could not possibly understand the issues simply because I was white. Maybe beliefs such as those are part of the problem. Regardless, Americans should focus on the bigger issues at play, and maybe we can start to truly move forward.
Trenton Winford is a public policy leadership major from Madison.
