Episode 06: The Media’s Default Setting of White Supremacy
Aug 9, 2017
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Dr. Jared A. Ball, a communication studies professor at Morgan State University, discusses how media narratives often facilitate white supremacy. He analyzes the language that downplays state violence and creates false equivalencies between police and victims. The conversation dives into how black victims are often posthumously smeared and how exaggerated threats against police shift blame. Ball explores the media's role in shaping perceptions of systemic racism and the urgent need for accountability in representation.
The media employs ambiguous language to downplay police violence and obscure accountability, shaping public perceptions of these incidents.
Victim smearing tactics in the media draw attention away from police actions, creating a biased narrative that vilifies marginalized victims.
Media narratives tend to reinforce systemic power dynamics by portraying civil unrest as irrational, deflecting accountability from law enforcement.
Deep dives
Media Coverage of Police Shootings
The media's framing of police shootings often employs subtle language designed to diminish accountability and obscure the reality of these incidents. The term 'officer-involved shooting' serves as a prime example, removing the sense of agency from police actions and impersonalizing the violence inflicted on victims. This phrase originated from police departments and has seeped into news reports, effectively sanitizing the narrative and deflecting blame from officers. Such language reinforces harmful stereotypes and contributes to a culture of victim-blaming, especially when the victims are from marginalized communities.
Impact of Language on Public Perception
The use of ambiguous terminology in reporting police violence significantly influences how the public perceives these events. Phrases like 'physical altercation' obscure the reality of asymmetrical power dynamics, suggesting that the victims are equally culpable in violent encounters with law enforcement. This not only distorts the facts but also perpetuates stereotypes about African-Americans as inherently violent, while exonerating the police from accountability. The repeated use of such language constructs a narrative that defensively positions law enforcement actions as necessary under the guise of public safety.
Smearing Victims of Police Violence
Another prevalent tactic in media coverage is the immediate scrutiny of the victims' pasts, often leading to a smear campaign that diverges attention from the police's actions. This is evident in cases where the history, character, or alleged criminal activities of the victims are highlighted, framing them as less deserving of justice. Meanwhile, the police officers involved typically escape similar scrutiny, with their histories often suppressed or portrayed positively. This glaring double standard reinforces societal biases, allowing a narrative that paints the victims as culpable while portraying officers as defending the peace.
Use of Psychological Operations in Policing
Law enforcement has a history of employing psychological tactics to manipulate public perception and justify heavy-handed responses to protests and civil unrest. During unrest following police shootings, authorities often fabricate vague threats from gang affiliations or group violence to paint the victims as instigators. Such strategies were notably used in the aftermath of Freddie Gray’s death, where unsubstantiated claims of gang threats were disseminated, leading to irrational public fear and justification for increased policing. These tactics serve not only to control narratives but also to legitimize escalated police presence and violence against communities of color.
The Role of Media in Reaffirming Power Dynamics
Media narratives surrounding incidents of police violence often serve to reinforce prevailing power dynamics rather than challenge them. By portraying uprisings as irrational or violent, media outlets distract from the underlying systemic issues that lead to civil unrest, such as systemic racism and police brutality. This sensationalist reporting propagates the idea that marginalized communities pose threats to public safety, which paves the way for harsher law enforcement tactics. Consequently, institutions and public figures are validated in their responses, sustaining the cycle of oppression and limiting the prospects for genuine change.
In Episode 06 we explore how the media both consciously and subconsciously works to smear black victims, protect the police, and works overtime to ameliorate the sensibilities of white media consumers with our guest Dr. Jared A. Ball.
The white supremacist regime at work in the media can be broken down into three main narrative devices: 1) The use of language to downplay state violence and assert false parity 2) The uncritical dissemination of exaggerated or made up threats to police to turn the aggressor into the victim 3) The posthumous smearing of black victims to rationalize their killing after the fact.
In this episode we examine the mechanisms of these narrative devices, how they influence public perception, and why they create the media environment that makes more Mike Browns all but certain.
Show notes: https://medium.com/@CitationsPodcst/episode-06-the-medias-default-setting-of-white-supremacy-ff138e201978
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