Essay Sample on Trayvon Martin Shooting: How Media Influenced My Opinion

Introduction

The following is a criminal case that involved the shooting and killing of Trayvon Martin, a 17-year-old African American by George Zimmerman, who is a neighborhood watchman on the night of February 26, 2012, in Sanford Florida. The media influenced my opinion on the case. The initial report of the case following the aftermath of Trayvon's death were pictures, and rumor on the life of the teenager started to surface on the internet based on the allegations made by Zimmerman's lawyers. There was a picture of him wearing a fake gold chain and rumors on his use of marijuana and reports on suspensions from school. Thus, from the initial reports in media started to try making Trayvon the villain in the case while he was the victim.

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The narrative given by George Zimmerman's attorney, who admitted to shot Martin for self-defense, can suggest that he saw a young and dangerous black thug. Thus, the allegations raised by the defense lawyers wanted to imply a troubled teen that posed a danger to his client. Similar to other cases of unarmed black teens getting shot, the Trayvon case is similar as he was in the parking lot dropping off a friend, and then the guard shone a light on his car that made him panic (Botelho). As he was trying to back up, he hit the guard's car, he opened fire for self-defense as he thought that Trayvon was driving towards his direction.

The news of Trayvon Martin killing had nationwide coverage from professionals and non-professionals alike with the engagement in the story being available online and in print media. Media sites of CNN and MSNBC were taking Martin's side with the notion that he had been racially profiled by Zimmerman, while FNC was urging that in the modern society, there are no longer racism incidents. Therefore, the representation of the case by the media as racism against African Americans had a huge influence on how the case was covered across this spectrum of ideology. Therefore, Trayvon Martin and George Zimmerman case were associated with political partisanship on racial inequality and prejudice intersected during the coverage. Hence, the framework in the media representation of the case of African Americans offered the context that created a differing stance on race that gave the general public varying views.

Following the death of Trayvon, his family and their attorney appeared in an interview on a CNN interview, pointing out that if the incident was reversed, Martin could have been already arrested, and yet Zimmerman was lingering free. The interview by Martin's family implies that if it were a black man who had committed the crime would have already been arrested, which introduced racial aspect on how the case was perceived by CNN and the audience. Hence, I consider CNN to have been quicker to introducing the issue of race to the ongoing conversation on the case that it was an issue of racial profiling by Zimmerman. A correspondent on FNC commented on the decision of Martin to wearing a hoodie by urging African American and Hispanic parents to refrain their teens from wearing these clothes as they are associated with crime (Geraldo). Thus, Fox News was representing African Americans as violent crime perpetrators that have raised the racialization of crime.

The media had facilitated the rise of a national debate on whether Martin was racially profiled by Zimmerman as raised by his family's attorney. Also, as seen from the defense raised by Zimmerman's attorney, they aimed to rely on the same old stereotypes surrounding African Americans. In the partisan media, the conservative and liberal sides continued attacking each other with the facts of the case not being relevant. Hence, by the time Zimmerman was acquitted on second-degree murder the majority of the views had already made their stance on whether he was innocent or guilty (Botelho). Therefore, the political agenda of the respective media networks impacted the way they reported the case. The networks focused much of the coverage on racial profiling and overrepresentation of African Americans as criminals may have had an impact on the final verdict that found George Zimmerman not guilty for the murder of Martin.

Conclusion

In conclusion, how the media report the killing of Martin Trayvon had an impact on the audience's perception of the case. The reporting of the case was heavily impacted by how African Americans are portrayed in the media concerning the focus on racial profiling. Zimmerman's ethnic background was not constantly presented similarly to Martin, which raised the stereotype of black teens. Hence, the coverage of Martin's death and trial of Zimmerman shows how the U.S. media has politicized the debate on race. Thus, the media had failed to have a productive conversation on the underlying aspect of the killing of an unarmed black male by law enforcement.

Work Cited

Botelho, Greg. George Zimmerman found not guilty of murder in Trayvon Martin's death. Edition, CNN. 14 July. 2013. Web 23 Feb. 2020.

Geraldo, Rivera: Trayvon Martin's Hoodie Is as Much Responsible For His Death as George Zimmerman." Fox News. Fox News Network, 23 Mar. 2012. Web. 23 Feb. 2020.