Sunday, September 27, 2020

Why Not Just Say?

I'm sure we're all aware of the indictment that came down on one (1) of the three (3) officers involved in the mruder of Breonna Taylor. He was charged with Wanton Endangerment, and of course, the people of the African American community are outraged. What else is new right? Black people are always mad about something right? Wrong. In this situation, there are activists making a big stink about how unfair the system is. You've got the Attorney General dragging his feet on providing some sort of resolve to calm the general public. You've also got the mass media reporting on this nationally ever since the matter went before the Grand Jury. Here's the problem at hand: the police officers were at Ms. Taylor's apartment looking for an ex-boyfriend to serve a warrant on him as he had provided her address as his place of residence. The police arrive on the scene in the middle of the night and attempt to kick the door in to serve same. As a result, Ms. Taylor's then boyfriend who was laying in bed let off a series of gunshots at the front door. The police returned fire and Ms. Taylor ended up dead. Those are the hard cold facts. The issue is, the people only heard the portion about the police shot and killed Breonna Taylor while trying to serve a warrant at the wrong address. My point, as it relates to this class, is if the media are aware of the facts as they are the ones reporting and leaking information to the general public, why not also just say what the law states. The media could, without having to go over to CNN to listen to a bunch of political pundits, at the same time that they are reporting the information, also relay to the people what the law says. Why not just say the police officer is being charged with Wanton Endangerment because he didn't use caution in returning fire. He just started shooting. Why not just say the police officer didn't identify himself as a police officer before he and his buddies went all guns blazing on that apartment. Why not just say the simplest thing to calm down the uproar? it would make everything so simple.

1 comment:

  1. I think the biggest reason for the spread of misinformation during cases like these is social media. The country is divided today and many people are entrenched in their views, meaning they are likely to only consume information the reinforces their beliefs. Social media has given everyone a platform to voice their opinion, regardless if it is grounded in fact. It is very easy for misinformation to gain traction on social media and be taken as fact, even if it is not even remotely true. I also do not think that there is anything that the media could say to calm the uproar. People are fed up and are demanding change. This should be an interesting election.

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