Media's Role In The Civil Rights Movement

What does March 7th mean to you? On this significant day, hundreds descended to Selma, Alabama in a bid to secure voting rights for African Americans. These African Americans only ever asked for the simple right to vote and to be treated with equality compared to whites, but all they ever got in return, was disrespect. Blacks wanted to be treated like citizens, similar to anyone else with the opposite skin color. Because of this, in 1965, blacks who were not guaranteed voting rights marched and tried to cross the Edmund Pettus Bridge to stand up and even demand for what they believed in. Although their efforts were great, local and state police stopped them before their march got too far. A few attempts later, the demonstrators made their way across the bridge. Blacks had to stop marching after 10 miles each day because they had 54 miles to go to complete their walk. This march for equal rights was such a huge issue that there was a total of 600 participants when they finally completed the walk! In fact, this didn’t just affect a few people, it affected any black woman, man, or even children too. For example, eleven year old Desiree Robertson carried an American Flag helping lead the group of marches down a rolling stretch of a highway. These people walked for their freedom and never gave up for what they believed in.

Although there was significant progress made in the 60’s Civil Rights Movements, African American lives still find themselves the subjects of racial profiling and police brutality cases. Specific incidents have brought the controversies to the public eye through social media and backlash from social movements. The cases of Trayvon Martin and Sandra Bland led to the controversies and feelings of judicial injustice; these events and public outrage sparked and fueled the movement “Black Lives Matter”, which was established to challenge and combat racial discrimination and police brutality. Since then, the movement has gained momentum and continues to gain followers and validity. Social media has also been a main contributor to the cause, as the

Maxlcom X was born on May 19, in Omaham Nebraska, also knows as Hajj Malik Elshbazz, His family lived in in Omahan his father was a preacher of a Baptist church he was an active man where he dedicated himself to preaching to the community of blacks his father Belonged to a movement called Marcus Garvey. Maxlcom X and his family received many threats from the Ku-klux klan group where many times they had to move through the established threats. However one of those groups of racists set fire to their house. After that, Malcolm Little named so grew up with much hatred towards the white race. His mother Louise was a housewife with eight children. After the death of her father, the mother lost custody of her children where she underwent break-out and was submitted to a psychiatric hospital when she saw the separation of her children where they were scattered in orphanages. - After living in orphanages. At an early age Malcolm X showed his vocation for advocacy he was one of the best students in his class when one of his teachers gave him a justification that he managed to quit school. “Malcolm was a bright student and, in fact, was at the top of his class in junior high school. In the eighth grade, however, one of his favorite teachers told him that his dream of becoming a lawyer was “no realistic goal for a nigger” At that point he lost interest in formal education and

Social movements are one of the primary means through which the public is able to collectively express their concerns about the rights and wellbeing of themselves and others. Under the proper conditions, social movements not only shed light on issues and open large scale public discourse, but they can also serve as a means of eliciting expedited societal change and progress. Due to their potential impact, studying the characteristics of both failed and successful social movements is important in order to ensure that issues between the public and the government are resolved to limit injustices and maintain societal progress.

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

The Civil War forever changed how media was consumed, especially during war times. Never before had there been such a public outcry for consumption of news and updates of what exactly was happening on the different fronts. Plenty of printing presses existed across the country, and newly invented cameras paved the way for new ways people could witness the war. News traveled more quickly as well with the use of railroads to distribute daily papers. While some areas of media stayed the same on both sides of the war, there were some differences, such as exactly how much of the media was consumed on either side. Both sides had problems with generals shutting down newspapers, however the two sides were vastly different in how they were able to handle the ginormous growth of media consumption.

Roberts, Gene, and Hank Klibanoff. The Race Beat: The Press, the Civil Rights Struggle, and the Awakening of a Nation. New York: Knopf, 2006.

Media plays a huge role in today's society. Media, in its many forms, can be very persuasive and can change how people view a certain topic. The past few years, media has greatly affected how people feel about topics such as: gay rights, abortion, racism, and anything political. Depending on what site, or source you are on, media can depict the topic you research however it wants. It has been argued that there are political bias in media, which is not wrong. You can find just about anything in whichever political view you want. When talking politics, there are multiple media outlets that are party-based. Even in print, you can find just about anything in favor of what you believe if you look for it. Media does a fantastic job of manipulating people to believe certain things without the audience realizing it. The media provides constant information about politics, and in more times than not, political rather than professional. In this lesson, we learned about liberals and conservatives and how political parties can be affected through media bias and public opinion.

March 7, 1965 is known as “Bloody Sunday”. The events that unfolded on that day in Selma, Alabama, will forever conjure images of relentless beatings, bullwhips, and tear gas in the minds of Americans (The Making Of LBJ’s Historic ‘We Shall Overcome’ Speech). African American citizens of the United States were facing a continued deadly threat at the hands of Southern Separatists and local officials, simply for the right to dutifully vote. What seems to prompt action by the United States government is the fact that these atrocities were now being viewed by the world, for all to see, on stark, black and white television screens. Many call Lyndon Baines Johnson’s “We Shall Overcome”

The media controls the way the public views a controversial event. It can create the illusion that everything is perfect by leaving out important information, or can reveal the deplorable truth as the media did during the Civil Rights Movement. It was not always that way though, during the Colonial Era the media glossed over the brutality African Americans

Malcolm X, a former African – American Muslim minister once said, “The media is the most powerful entity on Earth.” In the thriving world of technology, this quote holds the same value since the invention of mass media. In an age where life revolves around technology, people believe that it is this media (especially Social Media), which is serving as the basis of discrimination as well as the destruction of humanity. Had this been the case, would it be justified to oppose the words of Malcolm X? Wouldn’t it be plausible to blame media for every unfortunate incident that occurs in the world? Whether it is the loss of a famous football team in a match, a terrorist attack or even the death of an actor/actress, it is the media who is held responsible

Media bias is a topic that has been in great focus of many political leaders over the past few presidential elections. However, what many people fail to see is that media bias has been around since the beginning of major news companies. Most Americans do not know what media bias is or how to identify it. That stated many people have noticed that most news stations are biased towards one religion, political party or even gender. This has been like this for decades however has become much more prominent during major wars, the great depression and many social and political reforms such as the industrial era or the civil rights era. However the type of bias has been shifted mostly from a war focus and the focus on exposing corruption to

"Freedom of the press is guaranteed only to those who own one." This quote by A.J. Liebling illustrates the reality of where the media stands in today's society. Over the past twenty years there has been an increase in power throughout the media with regard to politics. The media's original purpose was to inform the public of the relevant events that occurred around the world. The job of the media is to search out the truth and relay that news to the people. The media has the power to inform the people but often times the stories given to the public are distorted for one reason or another. Using slant and sensationalism, the media has begun to shape our views in society and the process by which

     The media provides the public political issues, which sets the agenda for political discussion. In theory the media tries to attune themselves to the interest of the public, but “in most instances the media severs as conduits for agenda-setting efforts by competing groups and forces” (Ginsberg, Lowi & Weir, 1999, p. 298). To gain public support, groups and forces need media coverage to promote their ideas. However, the media has great control over which issues they televise. The issues must have media appeal or be considered newsworthy.

The media and the public have had a relationship that has existed for centuries. Through the media, people become aware of events and issues occurring around them. As a result, they make educated decisions. Therefore, the media serve as witnesses of the events happening within our societies and then report them to us. That said, could journalism have a significant political impact in our societies? It is through the media that governments and their citizens communicate. For instance, people communicate by protesting and voting, governments respond by amending the issues affecting the public. It is also through the media that potential political leaders gain recognition. Therefore, the answer is yes, because, journalism causes the spread