Member-only story
The News Media Is Complicit In Violence Against The Black Community By Replaying Videos Of Black Death
Why this exploitative practice needs to stop.
As protests continue in the United States sparked by the senseless murder of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police officers, the African-American community is facing another more insidious and violent assault.
The perpetrators?
The country’s news media.
Last week as Black pain, frustration, and outrage finally boiled over into city streets across the country, the media jumped at the chance to sensationalize Floyd’s murder by replaying the explicit video of his death.
Both national broadcast and cable news outlets repeatedly show the graphic video of former police officer Derek Chauvin kneeling with his knee on Mr. Floyd’s neck, ultimately killing him.
And they continue to replay the video over and over and over.
Let me be perfectly clear: news media who continuously replay explicit videos showing Black pain and death are being not only incredibly insensitive to the victim’s families, but also are complicit in inflicting even more pain and trauma on the Black community has a whole.
