Black Voices

Issue date: 10/12/07 Section: Opinion

Media Credit: Reuters Falcons quarterback Michael Vick plead guilty to dogfighting.

I became a journalism major because I wanted to cover events and issues that effect and impact the minority community, since you can clearly see the mainstream media does not cover many news issues that include people of color.

The only people of color that are covered in the mainstream media are minorities that are guilty of a crime, not the ones that are victims of crimes.

When Michael Vick was being charged with the whole dog fighting scandal, he was gracing the pages of many news publications.

When blacks are involved with shootings or robberies, they are on the 10 o'clock news. But when blacks are victims or have been treat unfairly by the law, they are not getting the media attention they deserve.

It is really embarrassing to say that I learned about The Jena 6 through Facebook. As a journalism major that watches and reads the news almost daily, how could an issue with this much at stake, be overlooked by the mainstream media?

Because of mainstream media coverage, I know that Britney Spears has lost custody of her kids but never heard about the Jena 6 losing their case.

I heard about our fallen Trojan O.J. Simpson going to jail, but not about the Jena 6 court trails. I heard about the LAUSD teacher protests, but not the protests going on in Louisiana.

It is disturbing that the mainstream media has such control over what we know about the world. But this is a "westernized" world, a "Euro-centric" world, a white world, and black issues are overlooked.

Another major story that is being overlooked by the media is the rape of Megan Williams. If it were not for the many www.facebook.com groups floating around in cyberspace, I would not have not even known about her.

Williams was tortured and raped for a whole week, by six white individuals, three males and three females between the ages of 20 and 49.

If she were white and raped by six blacks, I know this story would have been on the pages and on the TV's of the mainstream media.

While these cases have begun to gain more mainstream media coverage, it is only because people are speaking out.

Not journalists or broadcasters, but people like you and me. Whether it is making facebook groups, blogs, holding protests on campus, or by passing information by word of mouth, we are the ones that have to take responsibility for getting support for causes that affect our people.

As you can see they media will not do it unless we make them.

For more information and to sign a petition in support of The Jena 6, visit: http://www.colorofchange.org/jena/?id=2559-212460

There is an online petition calling for extra attention to the Williams situation, as well as for civil rights charges to be filed against the 6 accusers.

For more information and to sign the petition, visit: http://www.gopetition.com/online/14450.html

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