I wrote my undergraduate thesis on the stereotypes of black male athletes in the media with a focus on Kobe Bryant. At the time, it was an issue that I thought was important and deserved attention. Fast forward about 3 years and now we have Mr. Michael Vick. I definitely don’t agree with what he’s been involved in—I think it shows insanity in many ways. However, I don’t believe it is the job of the media to be the judge.
Today, a handful of papers had a picture and/or story of Vick. That’s okay. Tell the story. But one paper that I saw took it a bit too far. The problems are many but I’ll start by pointing out how thuggish and menacing he looks. Yes, what he did was a crime but photoshopping two of these kind of pictures for dramatic effect is over the top. What exactly are they trying to say? And does it really speak to the nature of the story?
I guess they were just trying to be different. Not so much.
Tuesday, August 21, 2007
RStheGr8: Try Again, Please
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Don't even get me started. The media has, even more lately, stepped up its campaign to paint black folks like animals. I think it has to do with us becoming more successful and more powerful. And the fact that we don't tolerate their shit. See Don Imus. See Duke.
Plus I also think it's a way of white folks keepin score. If we're gonna talk about how they're shootin up schools and being crazy, they gonna make sure we know that we're thugs.
Notice how they paint Mike Vick and Barry as total monsters but treat that NBA referee who bet on games he officiated like he's just goin thru a rough time and slipped up. That guy had ties to the fukkin mafia. Organized crime would seem a lot more troublesome than some backyard dogfighting operation.
They still treat Kobe as if he probably did something to that white girl. Made him pay her and everything. Yet the media went out their way to paint the Duke boys as saints after they were cleared. They still ordered the stripper and had a crazy ass party. if that had been someone on the basketball team, they woulda sent them back to Brooklyn.
But I can understand why AJC is overblowing things. It is the biggest star athlete they have. I'd just be interested to see how the AJC would do a story package if Falcons owner Arthur Blank stabbed his wife or somethin.
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