By Bridgett P. Robertson, Phd
Department of Mass Communications
Associate Professor
Virginia State University
Bridgett Robertson
Not so long ago there was an idea that news outlets had a “social responsibility,” to report the facts so that citizens were able to make intelligent decisions about their lives. This influential power that the news media uniquely holds is to “communicate the right information to the public.” Historically, newspapers, the first news mediums were disseminated to enlighten and educate, not proliferate the propaganda gone too far that we see today. One of the first Black newspapers, published on March 16, 1827, the Freedom Journal was used as a resource to recognize the problems of Black people and their rights. The paper was to give Black people a “voice,” in the civic debate within America. Other Black newspapers publicized successful Blacks as examples to imitate and were controlled by Blacks who could articulate their own truths and concerns. Ask yourself how many Black media outlets do Blacks actually own today to control their own narrative? According to the Federal Communications Commission (2023) in a report titled, Television Station Ownership Diversity, only 5% of TV households are in a market with a Black/African American-owned station. Additionally, the FCC (2023) reports that the majority of households in America do not have access to television stations with majority ownership by people of color. Further, the FCC (2023) 23 Diversity report shows that 85% of African Americans, on a daily basis, consume their news from television compared to 42% for newspaper consumption.
The Pew Research Center (2023) reports that more than 50% of Black adults say voting and supporting Black businesses are the most effective ways to move towards equality in America. But lately, in an effort to get the “historical,” Black narrative, many news media outlets have been turned on their heads in their ability to report factual news vs. propaganda at the expense of Black people. We could probably all find examples of media and its representatives spewing hate and siding with some lousy politicians and contributors about information communicated to the public for political or monetary gain all in the name of racism against Black people. In the same vein, the journalists who do take a stand to report truthfully have been embarrassed or dismissed for their honest views of this so-called movement. Is the bottom line in pitting community against community only about money, power, and political control? How does this truly serve the Black community? Have Black people freed everyone else in America besides themselves?
Let’s consider the news depiction of the Tyre Nichols tragedy in Memphis, Tennessee. According to the Los Angeles Times (2023), 58% of the police department in Memphis is Black, including Cerelyn J. Davis, Chief of Police. According to the United States Census Bureau (2021), Blacks or African Americans alone make up 64.6% of the Memphis population. Nichols, a 29-year-old Black man was disgustingly beaten to death by five former Black officers in the Memphis Police Department. The former officers were assigned to the SCORPION Unit and Crimes Operation to Restore Peace in the Neighborhoods. According to recent news reports, Nichols was allegedly stopped by the Black officers for a traffic violation and proceeded to get out of the car to run for his life when he was beaten to death. Why was he so afraid of his own kind? Has irresponsible news media reporting of our very recent past concerning Black men and police officers to blame in some way for the Tyre Nichols tragedy?
In the news, we have seen protest after protest and the spinning of news stories to the public about racism against Black people across America. We see prominent Black and White politicians keep the racist narrative alive in the news to win an election. Both Black and White politicians used the news media to gain the Black community’s support to successfully win only to disappear. Many violent protests have come and gone in the name of White officers killing Black men as reflected in the news media. Prominent historical statues have been torn down in cities, police departments defunded, police are being murdered on the job, young people are murdered in protest, stores are being robbed, windows busted out of buildings, rich Antifa White kids defacing businesses, and people treated in ways unimaginable all in the name of Black people. Additionally, millions of dollars have changed hands through organizations to stop this racism. Is the Black community being used as a political pawn for opportunists who simply want power and control in America? Where is that money? Did those millions actually go to the Black communities to teach Black youth to not grow up and kill each other? More importantly, are Black people allowing the hate to continue by believing the Tyre Nichols case was racist too? What have Black people really gained from all the violence and hate we saw done in some irresponsible news media outlets in their name?
I submit that there are bad apples in every barrel and ALL news media outlets need to be honest and reflect on all sides. I do have to agree with Lebron James in his most recent comment “We are our own worst enemy.” We need to think whether the Tyre Nichols case speaks to a larger problem of self-hatred because of nonstop irresponsible news depictions about Black men and the African American community. How did Nichols become so afraid of his own kind that night? Interestingly, some well-known media hawks have decided somewhere that the Nichols case was also “racist.” How does that work with the deceased victim being Black and the officers all Black who committed the crime?
Perhaps the 1993 movie “Menace to Society” was the first warning that things could get worse if Black people did not properly take care of their own power given and entrusted in America, teach their young and take better care of each other. More than 20 years ago, that movie did show that a Black officer was called down because he set out to abuse his own more than the White officer. Is there any credence to the Logic & Rag ‘N’ Bone rapper song “Broken People?” Where is Black Lives Matter?
