Media Influence On Charleston Shootings

On June 17, 2015, Dylann Roof, a 21-year-old man murdered nine people at Emanuel A.M.E. Church in Charleston, S.C. (Corasaniti, Perez-Pena, & Alvarez, 2015). Before June 17, 2015, Dylann Roof was a person filled with hate towards African American individuals in the United States. When the news came out about these murders initially, no one could understand why he had done this assuming he had a mental health condition. In the accounts of the event Ms. Washington recounted, “ You don’t have to do this.” Rooff replied,” Yes, You are raping our women and taking over the country.” (Corasaniti et al., 2015). Roof said,” The people were so friendly to me I thought about not shooting them.” It was learned that “Dylan Roof had posted a white

Do you remember Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, South Carolina? Do you remember The Rev. Clementa Pinckney, Rev. Sharonda Singleton, Dr. Daniel L. Simmons, Ethel Lee Lance, Cynthia Hurd, Myra Thompson and Tywanza Sanders? I no one individual who knows this particular church and these particular individuals all too well. Dylann Roof on June 17th, 2015 at approximately 9 p.m. walked into this church during bible study and needlessly took their lives for no other reason than the color of there skin. The motivation you ask? That’s simple, it was hate. Dylann at the time was a 21 white supremacist high school drop out with ties to neo-Nazism.

Since people are mostly only able to participate in catastrophes such as this mass shooting at a distance, news media is the primary source of information, which therefore creates the audiences’ reality of the events that occur.(Wheeler 80) With this, the mass media has the control of what people are exposed to, and the choice to amplify awareness to what they choose as important. In an interview conducted with Sarah, an undergraduate student at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, she recalled her exposure to the news of the shooting: “The only reports I had access to, was what I saw in the news”. When asked how she thinks the media had an effect on her perception of the shooting, she stated: ”Well I believe that since the only information I was able to get was from news sources, what I saw in the news is what I believed. So I really do think the media had a strong effect since I was exposed to mainly what they chose to present to me.” With this, media messages, such as the reporting on the Las Vegas shooting, exert a strong influence on audiences and the cultivation of people’s perception. The frequent exposure to these stories of mass shootings and the use of descriptors based on race are fed to the audience and become a common knowledge. Ultimately, the promotion of racial stereotypes through the disproportionate representation of perpetrators of mass shootings influences public opinion and perception.(Lankford) With the strong effect that media has on the people, it is

In today’s society mass media has major influences on the beliefs/perceptions one may have on certain ethnicities or controversial topics. Media outlets have the power to shape certain situations and place people in an image that may not always be accurate. As stated in an article by Narissra M. Punyanunt-Carter, Communication research and theory suggest that the mass media is an important source of information about African Americans and media portrayals contribute to public perceptions of African Americans(2008). Further, it was mentioned that media outlets such as television may cause viewers to conceive, alter, or even reinforce their beliefs and opinions about African Americans ( Punyanunt- Carter, 2008). For Instance, in the Netflix documentary called “13th” Media outlets consistently used the word “Super predators” when describing the numerous African American men who were being arrested in the 80’s during the war on drugs era. The constant use of the word super predator can persuade viewers to believe that ALL African American men are super predators when that is not the case! Just because there are a few African Americans who are seen on Media outlets committing heinous crimes does not mean that all African Americans are criminals. As stated in a scholarly article by Tony Weaver, Media outlets create a narrative that portrays African Americans as lazy, violent individuals, who are prone to crime. The Misrepresentation of African Americans in media has

“To begin his Charleston massacre, the confessed murderer Dylann Storm Roof coldly told his victims the cause that animated his deadly violence. ‘You rape our women, and you're taking over our country,’ Roof exclaimed, ‘and you have to go.’ ” writes Robert Chase, a reporter for thee CNN News. Dylann’s perspective was a warped one, and he wasn’t thinking about white people, who enslaved black people for hundreds of years. He was thinking of his personal hate towards black people. My question here is this: does our country agree with Roof? That is the question I strive to answer with this paper.

Indisputably, a great tragedy was inflicted upon the people of Charleston, South Carolina. Indisputably, nine innocent people were murdered in a prayer service on the evening of June 17, 2015. The suspected perpetrator of this massacre is twenty-one year old, and South Carolina native, Dylan Roof. A website was discovered that contained 60 images depicting Roof committing such acts as burning and spitting on American flags, waving confederate flags, and posing with guns. Also, on this website

In Charleston Dylann Roof who started all this by killing innocent people, was a know racist. This Dylann was just simply crazy, in history we have never listened to terrorist why are we all of the sudden going crazy over something a disturbed killer has to say. Yes the killings were terrible and a act of hate crimes but the guy was nothing more than a complete nut job. Which is why I believe this whole thing was blown way out of proportion and the American people that are just looking for a reason to hate somebody for something ate it right up

Sarah Ruiz-Grossman, the writer of the article “The Double Standard in How the Media is Portraying the Las Vegas Shooter,” is anti-racial profiling. Her article claims that white killers are humanized. The mass shooter of the recent mass shooting, Stephen Paddock, is white who the media seemed to include some personal likes of Paddock. Ruiz-Grossman states that if Stephen Paddock were black or muslim, then he would be immediately labeled a terrorists, and only a terrorists. Ruiz-Grossman writes, “When it comes to mass violence by white people, news outlets have repeatedly been criticized for their slowness to label attacks by white perpetrators as “terrorism,” while they’re more likely to use the label when attackers are perceived as nonwhite - and specifically, Muslim” (Ruiz-Grossman, 24). Ruiz-Grossman also states that the reason why white perpetrators are not labeled as terrorists is because of the president. Trump has called Paddock a “crazed lunatic,” not a terrorists. Brent Staples, a victim of racial profiling, tells his story about how he goes on about his life with someone constantly watching over his shoulder. He talks about being mistaken for a burglar, about being judged for the way he dresses, about being seen as a criminal, etcetera.

The news making the headlines this past couple of days is the genuinely shocking unforeseen improvement of six ladies and three men including a minister who were shot dead at 9 p.m. on Wednesday June 17, 2015 at the Emmanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston South Carolina , a chronicled church which was developed in 1816 as a standout amongst the most settled African-American holy places in the United States. The shooter 21-year-old Dylan Roof went to a Bible study meeting at the gathering. He sat there for 60 minutes and toward the end opened fire and let them know "I need to do it". "You assaulted our women and you're expecting control over our country and you have to go". According to witnesses, Roof stacked and reloaded his weapon five times. He spared one woman clearly especially prompting her "I'm not going to shoot you in light of the fact that I require you to tell everyone what happened". There were three people inside and out who survived including a five-year-old young woman whose grandmother prompted her to play dead and that is the methods by which she survived. Rooftop was caught just two or three hours former after a report of a suspicious vehicle and was represented to be useful with the officers who ended him. (Bankoff and Hartmann).

Media Coverage of the Duke Lacrosse Scandal The 2006 Duke Lacrosse Case brought to light many of the issues and divisions currently plaguing our media sphere. This terrible act of injustice, which blamed three innocent Duke lacrosse players, Reade Seligmann, Collin Finnerty, and David Evans, for the rape of an African-American

On October 2, 2017, a significant event took place in Las Vegas, Nevada; the Mandalay Bay, Las Vegas shooting. This mass shooting killed 59 innocent people and 527 and others were injured. It all happened during Route 91, an annual country music festival in Las Vegas. A hotel room in Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino 's 32nd floor is where the shots were fired from. This tragedy has many people asking if it was terrorist-related. After doing some research, I found out that are different definitions for the word terrorism. Dictionary.com defines terrorism as, “The use of violence and threats to intimidate or coerce, especially for political purposes.” We hear about terrorist influenced tragedies happening around the globe every day. Could it

Throughout the day on October 9, 2017, The New York Times website covered a variety of stories, featuring numerous articles concerning the Las Vegas tragedy and gun violence in the United States, as well as pieces highlighting President Trump’s declination of the Iran Nuclear Agreement and cutback of employer birth

Lundman (2003) pointed to the fact that “not all murders…are selected for coverage by news media (358).” And, that “when murders are selected, some receive frequent and prominent attention, while others receive infrequent and obscure coverage (358).” In fact, during the time frame of George Zimmerman’s trial there were other murders involving race and gender. One can only wonder then, “do some homicides therefore receive more attention and others less because of the race and gender of the actors involved (Lundman, 2003, 358)?”

Almost everyday you hear there is a mass shooting or gun violence portrayed in the media. The weapons used in these kind of shootings are often semi-automatic forearms capable of putting down several rounds per minute effectively and quickly killing mass amount of people in a very short time. Yet, the gun supporters believe the ownership of guns if a God given right guaranteed by our country's constitution. But, they forget what kind of destruction it can bring to the mass and the society.

Understand the Ferguson situation while employed as a law enforcement agent one can say I have a bias opinion regarding the facts around the case. This is not so I was raised in one of the toughest cities, Newark, NJ. As a Hispanic male I can say I have come