Potent Hashtag #IfTheyGunnedMeDown Points To Media Manipulating Black Images (IMAGES) [View all]

[Segami]

A potent Twitter hashtag goes directly to the heart of the way media shows “black victims of crime” by the images chosen. And this has produced a flood of tweets.

This all started after Michael Brown, an unarmed teenager, was shot over and over by a police officer in a St. Louis suburb. Some of the media picked a photo of Brown using a hand sign that might have looked like a “gang sign.” Other chose an image depicting a “high school graduate in cap and gown.”

That was the beginning of the #IfIWereGunnedDown hashtage. Kids started posted dual images of themselves – one doing something great. The other photo is less than flattering. The comparison makes a remarkable statement about the power of the media.

#IfIWereGunnedDown and any versions of that hashtag have made people question the media. Does the media intentionally seek out our worst picture (and we all have them)? Or are they willing to give everyone a fair shakes, as in “innocent until proven guilty.”

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http://www.addictinginfo.org/2014/08/13/potent-hashtag-iftheygunnedmedown-points-to-media-manipulating-black-image-images-images/