Frankly, it's a nice change from what is normally in the news. There tends to be far more media coverage of minorities than whites, especially negative coverage pertaining to issues such as crime.
But then, that is what happens in an area as white as Boone, NC.
Man arrested in February receives more charges A man arrested in Boone in February has been charged in connection with several crimes, the Boone Police Department announced Monday. |  | |
| Man arrested in connection to wallet, credit card theft A Boone man was arrested Friday in connection with crimes recently reported in Crimestoppers alerts. |  | |
| Officers arrest man for meth possession Officers arrested a man for possession of crystal meth last week in the parking lot of the Deep Gap Food Lion, the Watauga County Sheriff's Office announced Thursday. |  |
The first thing I thought of when I initially saw this article was "drugs", because when white people are in the news it is typically for drug use or something nonviolent. After looking at the article more closely, I noticed that they were not all drug charges, however they were all nonviolent, very stereotypical. In my opinion, if most people were to see an African American picture, they would assume violence. Great example of what we've been talking about.
ReplyDeleteThis is another example on how the media focus in crime, a person that ignores how the media filters information to gain more audience is more likely to create the misconception that crime is increasing as well as the possession of drugs, especially the usage of meth....
ReplyDeleteAnother interesting thing that I noticed is how the media emphasizes on the law enforcement and especially local police, something that we have discuss in class. The media as stated in the textbook emphasizes on the law enforcement role, in this case as enforcing laws; due to the arrest they have done and of course as the media portrayed it "crime stoppers."
I have to agree that this is something that is not normally in the news, because the offenders are white people, but lets recall that the media also depicts random crimes.
I thought this was an interesting set of articles. Crime is supposed to "blacker, younger, and maler" but here they decide to talk about some white crime. Probably because there is no black violent crime occuring right now so they are grasping at straws to come up with any crime to depict in the news media, in a predominatley white area. These charges are also considered soft non-violent crimes, away from what the media really wants us to see. Watauga county is credited with busting a man with possession and intent to sell meth, a man wanted for breaking and entering, and man charged with wallet theft and probation felony violations. I just spent some time in catawba county court for a class assignment and what I saw is pretty much reflective of these articles. The majority of the court room was filled with white offenders and some white women offenders, not many African Americans. Shockingly enough the most ineteresting case was a white man in his 30's busted with meth. you know because we are in a "meth Epidemic". The next most interesting was a breaking and entering charge also a white guy only 20 yrs old. Breaking and enetering has the highest rates of recidivism among all other crimes. breaking and entering and larceny charges has postive percentage of recidivism around 85-95%. What the media want us to see and believe is completely disproportionate to the actual population based on race and seriousness of the crimes that actually go on.
ReplyDeleteThese three examples of white men arrested is unusual to see in the media. In chapter four, it discusses how the media generally focus on criminal activities committed by minorities. Typically, they will focus on African Americans who are accused or convicted of crimes. And generally whites are portrayed as the best educated and most law abiding citizens. Clearly, these three examples go against the norms of the media.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6tLc16_xXlM
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