Media Myths About The Jena 6
The Christian Science Monitor has a nifty feature allowing individuals to pay for reprint permissions online and republish CSM pieces. The paper carried a must-read op-ed today on the Jena 6 case, and I’ve paid to republish it in full here. This deserves to be seen and spread far and wide:
Media myths about the Jena 6
A local journalist tells the story you haven’t heard.
By Craig Franklin
Jena, La.
By now, almost everyone in America has heard of Jena, La., because they’ve all heard the story of the “Jena 6.” White students hanging nooses barely punished, a schoolyard fight, excessive punishment for the six black attackers, racist local officials, public outrage and protests – the outside media made sure everyone knew the basics.
There’s just one problem: The media got most of the basics wrong. In fact, I have never before witnessed such a disgrace in professional journalism. Myths replaced facts, and journalists abdicated their solemn duty to investigate every claim because they were seduced by a powerfully appealing but false narrative of racial injustice.
I should know. I live in Jena. My wife has taught at Jena High School for many years. And most important, I am probably the only reporter who has covered these events from the very beginning.
The reason the Jena cases have been propelled into the world spotlight is two-fold: First, because local officials did not speak publicly early on about the true events of the past year, the media simply formed their stories based on one-side’s statements – the Jena 6. Second, the media were downright lazy in their efforts to find the truth. Often, they simply reported what they’d read on blogs, which expressed only one side of the issue.
The real story of Jena and the Jena 6 is quite different from what the national media presented. It’s time to set the record straight.
Myth 1: The Whites-Only Tree. There has never been a “whites-only” tree at Jena High School. Students of all races sat underneath this tree. When a student asked during an assembly at the start of school last year if anyone could sit under the tree, it evoked laughter from everyone present – blacks and whites. As reported by students in the assembly, the question was asked to make a joke and to drag out the assembly and avoid class.
Myth 2: Nooses a Signal to Black Students. An investigation by school officials, police, and an FBI agent revealed the true motivation behind the placing of two nooses in the tree the day after the assembly. According to the expulsion committee, the crudely constructed nooses were not aimed at black students. Instead, they were understood to be a prank by three white students aimed at their fellow white friends, members of the school rodeo team. (The students apparently got the idea from watching episodes of “Lonesome Dove.”) The committee further concluded that the three young teens had no knowledge that nooses symbolize the terrible legacy of the lynchings of countless blacks in American history. When informed of this history by school officials, they became visibly remorseful because they had many black friends. Another myth concerns their punishment, which was not a three-day suspension, but rather nine days at an alternative facility followed by two weeks of in-school suspension, Saturday detentions, attendance at Discipline Court, and evaluation by licensed mental-health professionals. The students who hung the nooses have not publicly come forward to give their version of events.
Myth 3: Nooses Were a Hate Crime. Although many believe the three white students should have been prosecuted for a hate crime for hanging the nooses, the incident did not meet the legal criteria for a federal hate crime. It also did not meet the standard for Louisiana’s hate-crime statute, and though widely condemned by all officials, there was no crime to charge the youths with.
Myth 4: DA’s Threat to Black Students. When District Attorney Reed Walters spoke to Jena High students at an assembly in September, he did not tell black students that he could make their life miserable with “the stroke of a pen.” Instead, according to Walters, “two or three girls, white girls, were chit-chatting on their cellphones or playing with their cellphones right in the middle of my dissertation. I got a little irritated at them and said, ‘Pay attention to me. I am right now having to deal with an aggravated rape case where I’ve got to decide whether the death penalty applies or not.’ I said, ‘Look, I can be your best friend or your worst enemy. With the stroke of a pen I can make your life miserable so I want you to call me before you do something stupid.’”
Mr. Walters had been called to the assembly by police, who had been at the school earlier that day dealing with some students who were causing disturbances. Teachers and students have confirmed Walters’s version of events.
Myth 5: The Fair Barn Party Incident. On Dec. 1, 2006, a private party – not an all-white party as reported – was held at the local community center called the Fair Barn. Robert Bailey Jr., soon to be one of the Jena 6, came to the party with others seeking admittance.
When they were denied entrance by the renter of the facility, a white male named Justin Sloan (not a Jena High student) at the party attacked Bailey and hit him in the face with his fist. This is reported in witness statements to police, including the victim, Robert Bailey, Jr.
Months later, Bailey contended he was hit in the head with a beer bottle and required stitches. No medical records show this ever occurred. Mr. Sloan was prosecuted for simple battery, which according to Louisiana law, is the proper charge for hitting someone with a fist.
Myth 6: The “Gotta-Go” Grocery Incident. On Dec. 2, 2006, Bailey and two other black Jena High students were involved in an altercation at this local convenience store, stemming from the incident that occurred the night before. The three were accused by police of jumping a white man as he entered the store and stealing a shotgun from him. The two parties gave conflicting statements to police. However, two unrelated eye witnesses of the event gave statements that corresponded with that of the white male.
Myth 7: The Schoolyard Fight. The event on Dec. 4, 2006 was consistently labeled a “schoolyard fight.” But witnesses described something much more horrific. Several black students, including those now known as the Jena 6, barricaded an exit to the school’s gym as they lay in wait for Justin Barker to exit. (It remains unclear why Mr. Barker was specifically targeted.)
When Barker tried to leave through another exit, court testimony indicates, he was hit from behind by Mychal Bell. Multiple witnesses confirmed that Barker was immediately knocked unconscious and lay on the floor defenseless as several other black students joined together to kick and stomp him, with most of the blows striking his head. Police speculate that the motivation for the attack was related to the racially charged fights that had occurred during the previous weekend.
Myth 8: The Attack Is Linked to the Nooses. Nowhere in any of the evidence, including statements by witnesses and defendants, is there any reference to the noose incident that occurred three months prior. This was confirmed by the United States attorney for the Western District of Louisiana, Donald Washington, on numerous occasions.
Myth 9: Mychal Bell’s All-White Jury. While it is true that Mychal Bell was convicted as an adult by an all-white jury in June (a conviction that was later overturned with his case sent to juvenile court), the jury selection process was completely legal and withstood an investigation by the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. Court officials insist that several black residents were summoned for jury duty, but did not appear.
Myth 10: Jena 6 as Model Youth. While some members were simply caught up in the moment, others had criminal records. Bell had at least four prior violent-crime arrests before the December attack, and was on probation during most of this year.
Myth 11: Jena Is One of the Most Racist Towns in America. Actually, Jena is a wonderful place to live for both whites and blacks. The media’s distortion and outright lies concerning the case have given this rural Louisiana town a label it doesn’t deserve.
Myth 12: Two Levels of Justice. Outside protesters were convinced that the prosecution of the Jena 6 was proof of a racially biased system of justice. But the US Justice Department’s investigation found no evidence to support such a claim. In fact, the percentage of blacks and whites prosecuted matches the parish’s population statistics.
These are just 12 of many myths that are portrayed as fact in the media concerning the Jena cases. (A more thorough review of all events can be found at www.thejenatimes.net – click on Chronological Order of Events.)
As with the Duke Lacrosse case, the truth about Jena will eventually be known. But the town of Jena isn’t expecting any apologies from the media. They will probably never admit their error and have already moved on to the next “big” story. Meanwhile in Jena, residents are getting back to their regular routines, where friends are friends regardless of race. Just as it has been all along.
• Craig Franklin is assistant editor of The Jena Times.
By Craig Franklin. Reused with permission from The Christian Science Monitor (http://www.csmonitor.com), October 24, 2007. ©2007 The Christian Science Monitor. All rights reserved. For permissions, contact copyright@cspsmonitor.com.
***
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The Jena Six and racial narratives; Update: No bail for beating suspect
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The media didn’t care if they got it right because it “fit” their beliefs like the Duke case.
The MSM cannot be trusted on any matters anymore and I do not nor will not spend anytime listening to anything they have to say.
But other than that, the story was accurate.
The media has no absolute moral mooring. Remember, liberals have declared there are no absolute right or wrongs. Get the Bible and prayer out of school. But, they cry foul when they feel they have been “wronged” and they suddenly acquire standards for judgment. Spiritually and morally bankrupt they are. The sad thing is that too much of the American public feeds on this pap everyday through various media sources and subsequently accept non-truth as truth.
Now to you, Michelle. I thought you weren’t a morning person. You are at it early today. Any chance opf a headsup when you are going to appear on a TV segment sometime? Thank you for your contribution to freedom, truth and justice.
As Rather and CBS would say maybe the facts are wrong but the story is accurate!
How many times can the Media get it wrong resulting in inflaming racial tensions?
Maybe they’re the real perpetrators of hate crimes.
This is an excellent article and I, for one, feel enlightened on the whole situation after reading it. The problem is that the average American who barely reads a mewspaper and relies on getting their news items from distorted sources, will never take the time to read this. Certainly, the thousands of black Americans who were up in arms over the Jena incidents will never read it. They don’t want to know the truth. They want to complain, cry foul, riot, and be angry every chance they get. It’s the only way they can feel validated.
Like Iraq, it’s about the “narrative” not the facts.
That has a nice ring to it.
Then the Justice brothers got involved.
Thanks MM for publishing this reporter’s story!
The funny thing is that most of these are the points that were brought up my members on this blog and on Townhall.com
Sadly, alot of people don’t want to hear the truth because being PC is more important than ethically and morally right.
His name is Justin Barker-the victim of the Jena 6.
More of what we have come to expect from the MSM …
Actually I think I have finally figured out what MSM really stands for …
Misinformed Scandalizing Mudslingers
…
All along I have felt there was a lot more to this story than we were hearing … kept waiting for it to come out …
Thanks for the information Michelle … you rock … as always …
Very curious how all these alleged noose hanging incidents started popping up after Jena got some attention; Columbia University being the most noted one.
But odd how that story totally disappeared without any resolution.
Twisting real stories has been the norm for the media since it’s inception.
Reporters sending sensationalized stories back to press from the prairie days to sell the News as they saw fit.
“facts? facts? We dont need no stinking facts!”
aj … it was, and is, called “yellow journalism” …
Morning dl…
Take the journalism part out and it’s more accurate.
true aj … cowardice knows no bounds and comes in many flavors … I consider those in the media who refuse to search out the truth and report the facts accurately to be every bit as much a coward as those individuals that turn tail and run when the time comes to defend this country
truth is not always the easiest way but it is always the most honorable way
I graduated with a journalism degree back in 1983; today I’m trying to understand just what became of that once-respectable trade. It certainly doesn’t qualify as a “profession” these days.
In the Olden Days of Yore, I didn’t see this kind of Agenda Journalism coming. Our professors kept their politics to themselves, and my fellow J-school majors weren’t overtly partisan or pathologically dishonest.
True, you got paid slave wages if you could find a job at all after graduation, but journalism hadn’t yet become a calling on the same level of respectability as prostitution - which is what, with some notable exceptions (tips hat to Michelle), it is now.
Did J-school students and professors suddenly start coming from the ranks of Poli-Sci washouts who wanted to become Woodward & Bernstein wannabes?
Agenda Journalism used to be an epithet; now it’s the standard. And I’m still groping for a cohesive explanation of how it happened. Any ideas, Michelle?
MLK would be sad over J-6
morning aj … as Jack said …
“The truth … you can’t handle the truth”
I think that goes for most all of the far left and some on the far right … which is why they tend to be totally inflexible toward anything that does not fit 100% into their agenda and view of the world … to them that view is the truth and it is non-negotiable from that point forward …
#6,
I have very little respect for Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson as they fuel the myth that black and white people simply cannot get along…an oversimplification, perhaps. However, that being said, not every black person agrees with Jesse and Al.
Some don’t know any better, some don’t care to know and others just want to be a part of something…something bigger than themselves. At least that is what one black college student said about the march in Jena. I feel sorry for this person as she just wanted to be a part of something that does not have a ring of truth to it. And she didn’t bother to look for the truth either.
It is unfortunate that successful black people are called sell-outs, oreos, etc… Because it is those people who have more to offer to the inner city youth than Jesse or Al. Bill Cosby is taking heat for his comments. Why? Because he is right. He calls for black people to stop making victims of themselves and to stop perpetuating the fraud that “the white man” is keeping you down.
I came from the inner city and I assure you that “the white man” had less to with my successes or failures than anyone I know.
But when you have an Al or Jesse out their marching for so-called “black rights” if you were an inner city youth, ill prepared to analyze these sort of things, who would you believe?
Besides, check out what BET has managed to pull off: http://redstate.com/stories/elections/2008/jena_6_boys_present_award_at_bets_hip_hop_awards
Black people need to open their eyes to the world around them. We have come a long way from the 1960s…
Conversely, what about the white young man who was assaulted. If he decided to hate black people from this day forward, could anybody blame him? Race relations are taking a hit in this country. Please tell me who is doing anything to bridge the gap?
———–
What can I say about the lame stream media that hasn’t already been said? They do a disservice to anyone who hears anything they have to report on.
Regulus
I think you may have hit on something when you suggested
as a potential driving force towards todays journalistic approach and attitude … had not really thought of it in those terms … but it does fit …
I also took some journalism and writing classes in college … but when the only declared J-major in the class got the only “A” from a biased professor despite blowing the mid-term badly with a “C” (supposedly 20% of your grade) … and after appealing to the registrars about it to no avail … I decided I was no longer interested in further pursuit of that as a possible career path if that was what I had to look forward to …
For once NY Times was right when I read the OP-ED by Reed Walters
Wow. Why am I not surprised? I know this question exposes my naiveté, but aren’t there supposed to be agencies in place to watch for such inaccuracies (or, in this case, lies) in “journalism,” like AIM or something?
I hope that Mr. Franklin is right and the truth of all of this evetually becomes known by all, but I fear that even that won’t change some minds. If I remember correctly, MM reported a few years ago on Kerri Dunn, the Claremont McKenna College visiting professor faking racially-based vandalism of her vehicle. Even after the truth came out, her supporters shrugged it off and said that it didn’t matter whether or not it was a hoax.
People followed the media on this Jena-6 debacle because they wanted to believe the stories of old-fashioned segregated schools. The truth may not change that they want to believe that.
I applaud Mr. Franklin for his article and I hope his story not only gets out but that people hear it and pay attention.
Not advocating hatred by anyone, just sayin’…
The MSM has lost all accountability for their slanderous and libelous use of facts. I realize that the 1st Amendment guarantees the “Freedom of the Press,” but today’s propagandist disguised as journalist make the yellow journalism of Randolph Hearst’s days seem accurate. I guess fact checking is no longer required in America’s newsrooms anymore. Without integrity you are nothing, I guess the MSM doesn’t get it and that is why the dinosaur media is dying a horrible slow death.
#16
I hope your simply asking MM, incredibly partisan commentator that she is, how she got that way, otherwise your question is put to the wrong place.
The advent of conservative talk radio with Rush Limbaugh, who invented the blurred lines between “news” and commentary, was of course the birth of agenda journalism.
As Stephen Colbert so brilliantly puts it, “reality has a well known liberal bias,” and Limbaugh’s agenda was to combat that bias. Hannity, O’ Reilly, Beck, Boortz, Coulter, Malkin, and the like are all his children.
Hannity recently had to come out from hiding and admit that he wasn’t a journalist after all, as his blatant stumping for Giuliani was simply embarrassing Fox News. He is now a “conservative commentator”.
I say all these partisans posing as “journalists” would be well advised to do the same, if only for the sake of protecting real journalism from being corrupted even further.
I never thought before about the effect that this has on the town of Jena as a whole. This town has been painted as a place that still segregates schoolyards and parties, where students fight based solely on the color of their skin.
I feel for the residents of Jena who may now be looked upon differently. Does this incident forever make the white residents of Jena look like racists and the black residents look like victims?
That’s the problem, news reporting used to be a trade, now it’s a “profession”. Instead of reporting the facts, journalists will now report what they decide you need to know regardless of inconvenient facts.
As soon as Jackson and Sharpton showed up with their imported busloads of outraged protesters I assumed something was fishy.
Still, I have to say this line prompted a chuckle out of me:
What planet did these kids grow up on?
#16 Regulus:
Well said.
“…but journalism hadn’t yet become a calling on the same level of respectability as prostitution - which is what, with some notable exceptions (tips hat to Michelle), it is now.”
What drives yellow journalists to be agenda-driven?
I should guess among the leading possibilities would be:
1) Money
2) Power
3) A smug, sneering sense of moral superiority
or some part, or variation, or combination of the above.
Whatever the reason(s), it(they) would seem to boil down to one common denominator: some form of compensation for participating in such agenda-driven, yellow journalism.
Compensation for an act…sounds synonymous to payment for services.
Hmmm….
As I’ve said before, ever wonder why politicians; lawyers; and now, justifiably, journalists, are referred to as “meretricious”?
Look it up:
“Meretrix” is Latin for “prostitute”.
Great call, Regulus!
granite -
That’s your favorite word, isn’t it? I’ve seen you use it before.
I love learning new words and I’m still looking for a place to slip that one into conversation.
Before I have to answer this dozens of times today I’ll say:
Nothing, nothing, excuses multiple people jumping and beating another individual under any circumstance. I state that unabiguously and without qualification.
To me, rigamortis(sp) has set in on this horse of story, but I’ll weigh in.
Conversely to what Craig Franklin has written, eye witnesses have given accounts of numerous incidents that completely contradict what he has reported. It all comes down to whose version of the truth you want to believe.
I wasn’t present at any of the events, and I can wage a guess that none of the commenters on this thread were present either.
The Lonesome Dove explanation for the nooses on the tree sounds like complete and utter hogwash and spin control. Again, that’s my opinion, I wasn’t there. I do know that in this day and age many Americans will not put up with any type of personal or institutionalized racism, and they will mobilize to fight it. I repeat, none of us were in Jena to give first hand accounts.
I have been reading MM’s blog for well over a year now, and whenever there is an issue regarding blacks and racism, it pertains to hoax hate crimes, black on white “hate crimes”, media distortion or failing to pounce upon alleged liberal racism, race hustler Jesse/Al stuff, or blacks being a victim of racism at the hands of illegal immigrants.
Has there ever been a discussion topic dealing with white(American citizen) racism against Blacks? Please correct me if I’m wrong, I don’t read this site every single day.
Craig Franklin’s article is his journalistic interpretation of what happen. Does he have an agenda to protect his city, or is he completely unbiased? I don’t know. He chose whose versions of “truths” he wanted to believe, and how he wanted to characterize the actions.
Is he 100% correct on everything he reported. I don’t know, I wasn’t there. I do know that his version of the “true story” seems to fit the agenda of this site.
I was required to take some journalism classes back in 1983 because I was a broadcast communications major. We were taught that a story had who, what, when, where, and how. A story was supposed to be objective and present “just the facts.” I don’t remember opinion being a part of the equation for a story.
I think it all links back to investigative journalism. Reporters today think they are Geraldo. Even Dan Rather got caught up in that.
You can’t possibly be serious. Can you? Are you really that blinded by your idealogy? So much for your love of the scientific method.
To cite just one example the media almost single-handedly won the Viet Nam war, albeit they won it for the wrong side. I’m pretty sure that was before Rush came on the scene.
Look, the printing press was invented in 1430. Agenda driven journalism was invented about five minutes later.
Explain to me then why not one Liberal policy plan has ever done what it was supposed to do. Gun control, welfare, the “root causes” approach to crime, unilateral disarmament, socialized medicine… am I missing anything? The best that can be said for any of these things is that they had no effect. In fact they almost all made the problems they sought to address worse. Do you see a disconnect there?
I’ve been reading your posts for a couple of days now and you’ve seemed fairly reasonable even if I think your conclusions are dead wrong. But if you’re honestly suggesting that the media was one trustworthy family until Rush came in and upset the applecart I have little choice but to question either your IQ or your sanity.
Wow!
From #25, zings at Michelle, Limbaugh, and Hannity, O’ Reilly, Beck, Boortz, & Coulter!
And, to boot, the post has the bonuses of projection;
of changing the topic under discussion (which, I thought, was the absence of a more complete story, and of the withholding of information that did not fit the original writer’s[s] agenda), which Mr. Franklin’s CSM article outlines);
and of trying to deflect criticism from the target by criticizing others!
A cornucopic sampling of “debate” tactics of one worldview!
25:
If you would like to criticize the one or more of the folks listed above, then please identify a story (or stories) where they threw a bomb by making one or two statements, and then withheld - that’s WITHHELD - contradictory information;
Be able to corroborate your point;
Then post it;
And then, let that be the topic of discussion.
JW2:
Well, four years of Latin in high school, and one and a half in college….
Jonah Goldberg has addressed this often, and I think he makes a good point.
All human beings have a bias. All of us. It may be something as small as “the glass is half-full” versus “it’s half-empty”, but everyone is going to filter an event rhrough their own worldview.
We have two major problems with the MSM. The first is that they claim to be impartial arbiters of the truth in spite of their glaringly obvious bias. This is false advertising. If they truly cared about serving the public they’d acknowledge their bias so that the consumer could seek out an opposing point of view.
The much more serious complaint is that their bias goes well beyond “half-full / half-empty”. Very often they don’t just misinterpret reality, they misrepresent it. I refer to Rather, Beauchamp, the “phony soldiers” flap and countless other cases where they just make stuff up to serve their agenda. That’s unconscionable… assuming of course one has a conscience to begin with.
#33
How about this- I won’t question your sanity and IQ, and perhaps you won’t question mine. It’s just so rude and pointless.
We have different opinions, and we can civilly discuss them. Let’s pretend we were actually face to face talking about this. Deal? Let me know.
#34
Are you saying the names I mentioned don’t have an agenda?
And I didn’t deflect the topic, I responded to it. See post #16 (agenda journalism).
yes, #22, that’s what the Justice Brothers want, or should I say, that’s what they simply must have in order for them to have any purpose at all.
They should be obsolete but their egos won’t let them go quietly in the night. MLK Jr.,would be ashamed indeed. Although he was no saint, you cannot denigrate the message he put forth…
#38:
What I said was:
25:
“If you would like to criticize the one or more of the folks listed above, then please identify a story (or stories) where they threw a bomb by making one or two statements, and then withheld - that’s WITHHELD - contradictory information;
Be able to corroborate your point;
Then post it;
And then, let that be the topic of discussion.”
(Sorry for the extra “the” above.)
I don’t care so much whether someone has an agenda.
He just has to back it up.
Otherwise it is nothing more than his “feeling”.
If we were face to face and you seriously suggested that agenda journalism didn’t exist before Rush Limbaugh I’d respond much the same way.
I’m the last person here who will just reflexively gainsay your posts. Though I’m a hawk on national security and a fiscal conservative I’m an atheist who comes down on the liberal side of many social issues.
But seriously, come on, Rush Limbaugh invented the agenda driven journalist? Like in 500 years of mass media it never occurred to anyone before that they could slant their news coverage to suit their purpose. How can you possibly believe that?
This incident reminds me of the lynching of James Byrd in Jasper, TX about 10 years ago. The media descended on Jasper expecting it to be another “Sparta, Mississippi.”
What they found instead was a small, cozy East Texas town with a black mayor, a competent police force, and a population shocked and saddened that such a heinous crime took place in their town. Southeast Texas still has its problems with racism — I know, because I grew up there. But it is not the cesspool of murderous hate and cross burnings that make for a sensational prize-winning news story.
And another thing — isn’t it interesting that again, just as with the Damian Williams/Reginald Denny case, black leadership is demanding the unconditional release of blacks who commit black-on-white hate crimes? We really aren’t serious about hate crimes, are we?
#6, your presumption that “thousands of black Americans… don’t want to know the truth.”, “They want to complain, cry foul, riot, and be angry every chance they get. It’s the only way they can feel validated.” is DEAD-ON, the proof being the so-called media “success” of the distorted coverage on these Jena criminals.
The liberals accuse Fox News as being “partisan” just because it has the guts to tell these people the truth, instead of simply name-calling blacks as “sell-outs, oreos” (As #17 rightly points out). They are criminals.
At the end of the day, the numbers tell the story of many of us already know: the MSM/CNN propaganda machines has no integrity, will fail, no matter how bad they try to play “copy the leader” in their last dying breaths.
That’s another thing that bothered me from the outset. Even if the media account was 100% accurate these kids should definitely have some jail time coming.
To demand equal justice is one thing, to be given license to break the law is quite another.
I didn’t care about this story from the beginning. Sounded like a few kids went to jail for beating another kid.
To me… that sounds fair.
Throw Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton into the mix and I become even less interested.
Yes, this just confirms why I don’t believe most articles written now and think they are opinion pieces instead of news reporting.
Gee #6 and #43, I know that many non-black Americans were outraged over the Jena 6 situation, but no reason getting in the way of your hyperbole and generalizations.
#43, in the context of your comment, I don’t know what “they are criminals” evens means.
This whole case has come down to everyone picking and choosing which media coverage they want to believe. So criticizing the media for there coverage of Jena 6 rings false and silly.
Media member,Craig Franklin loses a bit of credibility with me with, “Actually, Jena is a wonderful place to live for both blacks and whites” This is not even handed, fair an balanced journalism. I heard similar garbage of supposed fairy tale living during Jim Crow. Franklin sounds like a local chamber of commerce official.
Most of you all, similar to the people you criticize, choose to believe media reports that support your world view and preconceived biases.
It appears, there is no common ground on this debate, and I just hope justice is served for ALL involved in Jena, LA.
Pressto:
I agree.
Buckeye #31 writes, “Has there ever been a discussion topic dealing with white(American citizen) racism against Blacks?”
The problem is that finding a credible example of white racism against Blacks is becoming more difficult. I’m not saying that such events do not take place. My point is that the likes of Sharpton and his Tawana Brawley fake scandal, and the recent rush to erroneous judgment against the Duke Lacrosse players, make it difficult to have a real discussion. The efforts to bring balance by pointing this out just lead to more accusations of racism. It’s exhausting.
You have a crucial misunderstanding here. We’re not faulting people for believing one news outlet over another. We’re faulting news outlets who withhold or create facts in service a “narrative”. Huge, huge difference.
#50 James Felix:
“We’re faulting news outlets who withhold or create facts in service a “narrative”. Huge, huge difference.”
Bingo!!!
James Felix:
…and for all you know Craig Franklin is doing the same thing you accuse other news outlets of doing.
That’s my other points. Jouralists have agendas, whether that be Anderson Cooper, Brit Hume, or Craig Franklin. They can create their spin/narrative, and the digestion of it depends on the world view or biases of the recipient.
#47:
The Jena 6 did commit a black-on-white crime.
Even MSM concedes that much.
Agreed. Lock em’ up!
That’s true, it is possible. And if he’s doing that it’s every bit as wrong in principle as Rather and Beauchamp.
And I’ll say explicitly now what I only implied earlier: that business about not knowing what a noose symbolizes sounds more than a little far-fetched to me.
But the main point here isn’t about Jena, it’s about a media that is so in love with it’s pre-approved storyline that it can’t be bothered to do some basic investigation. Whites can never be victims, blacks can never be vicitmizers, American society South of the Mason-Dixon is populated by men who are just itching for their chance to rape some single mother stripping her way through college.
Their laziness and myopia does a disservice to both sides of the debate, and helps keep racism from dying off completely.
I’ll refer you to my earlier comment. Spinning the facts and lying about the facts are two very different things. Spinning (within reason) is perfectly reasonable. Lying is not.
#25…
Hannity has never called himself a journalist, if you had taken the time to get your facts you would know. As a matter of fact, Hannity has always called himself a ‘commentator’. And, four of the ‘examples’ you mention have always called themselves political commentators.
Anne is known as a political commentator, as is Rush. O’Reilly has never called himself a journalist nor has he called his program journalism.
So your example has holes in it; and might I suggest you consider re-thinking your argument by providing better examples.
Michele Malkin has displayed true journalistic talents and expertise. Yes, she has a conservative view, but I dare say if she had discovered new facts she would not withhold them from her readers even if it went against her conservative views. This is not true of the NYT or CNN, MSM et. al., which takes us back to the crux of the story and the comment string: The unwillingness to pull back the covers to determine what true facts are and what is false; and report it accurately is very much lacking in the MSM. I have watched the degradation of Journalism since the 60’s.
I can’t find it in my heart to believe that Journalism classes in 1983 were not liberally biased. As the majority of the journalists today are from that collegic era.
That being said, the reason the rush to Jena 6 was due to it is an election cycle and the libs must get the base fired up. How do you fire up the Black vote? Well, by fanning the flames of racism. Yes, this is reverse racism. And all forms of racism must be extinguished.
What the six blacks did was attempted
murder, period. That kid may have brain
damage that is not yet apparent. All six
of those attackers should rot in jail
for awhile along with the scumbags who
try to spin the facts.
Thanks for this post Michelle. This needs to get much more attention. It is sad that the media has to make stuff up so that they can get ratings. The media here covered it for a week mainly because our community sent several bussloads of protesters down there from the HBC NC A&T.
Once again thank you for spreading truth.
All I can say is that I was there. My alma mater was the University of Oregon, a.k.a., “The Berkeley of the Northwest.” Trust me, I could recognize flaming liberalism and folk Marxism when I saw them; if it had been as bad then as things appear to be today, I’d have switched majors if not colleges.
The Allen School of Journalism was rated as one of the top five in the country when I attended, and for good reason. The the professors were generally older, consummate professionals who actually believed in the standard of objectivity. In fact, the first time I met the Dean, Galen Rarick, was when he attended an academics’ visit while I was at ROTC Advanced Camp at Fort Lewis in 1981. Probably not a lot of J-school deans who’d show up for something like that nowadays.
And while I’ve no doubt that many if not most of the students were libs, they didn’t wear it on their sleeves in class.
I guess I was just lucky to have studied under the last of the dinosaurs. One thing’s for sure, though, I wouldn’t recommend journalism as a major these days.
Thanks for posting this Michelle. I have read this before. It shows the continued bias of many in the MSM AND how entrenched PC really is in America. Just the mere mention of nooses and many were crapping in their pants including many on the right. They were more then willing to believe in the “white tree” and the threat lynchings. Unfortunately the MSM still has too much influence. Not to mention the complete BS taught in our public schools that help allow for such as this to float to the top in the first place. PC is not a myth…
Has anyone else noticed that the protestors were bussed down to Jena, La and that some of the citizens in New Orleans waited for the federal government to bus them out when H.Katrina was bearing down with several days notice?
Busses for protest-Check
Busses to evacutate a populace-Check Leadership to make the hard decisions-MIA
Citizens looking for a protest-Check
Citizens glorfying thuggery-CHECK
Ignoring the real victim-Double CHECK
GSP
vickisoup-
The problem is defining what is white on black racism, because the FBI crime stats list as perputrators the major ethnic groups, except that they combine hispanic with white and black. This way some of the hate crimes committed by whites or blacks might be caused by someone of hispanic heritage. However; hispanic is listed as a seperate category for victim status of hate crimes.
I agree with you that there are still cases of white on black racism, but when the situation comes up-it is quickly dealt with by law enforcement, and the local community.
The problem is compounded when the black civil rights movement does not act consistently in applying the standards that they want everyone else to live with and that they don’t want applied to their group as a whole.
Of course there are solutions; but when people talk about them, they are immediately shouted down as being racist.
I know, I live and work in the city of Memphis and a non-black person cannot critisize a black person’s behavior without the racism being the first thing they respond with. Our newly reelected mayor throughout his campaign claimed that anyone speaking against him was a “hater” with closet racist tendencies. (Personally I thought the guy was a freak and his resume wouldn’t get him hired to manage a Ben&Jerry’s Ice Cream parlor)
This morning I was subjected to racism at the local mini-mart, and did the best thing of all-Ignore the persons tirade, and rise above it.
GSP
blacks. Lol…