Covering more, knowing less

Trayvon Martin died tragically and needlessly. His demise turned the eyes of an entire nation. This cynical reporter doesn't believe that all this media attention will change anything.

Although this tragedy brought racial tensions to the foreground and has inspired many people to angry Facebook messages, I can't help but feel that most who seem outraged at the moment will never take any real action. Yes, there have been peaceful protests across the country, but most of those who watched the trial and discussed it with their friends and neighbors or through social media will soon move on. White people, especially those who live in predominately white areas like Sidney, aren't forced to think about race very often. This trial has brought it into the minds of many, but overwhelmingly, people will forget.

Media coverage of this trial has been irresponsible at best and pure sensationalism at worst. New York Daily News equated Trayvon Martin's death with those of Emmet Till and James Chaney. Emmett Till was a 14-year-old black boy who was killed in Mississippi in 1955 after reportedly flirting with a white woman. One day, Till, who was visiting relatives in Mississippi spoke to Carolyn Bryant, a young white woman. A few nights later, the woman's husband and his half-brother kidnapped Till, took him to a barn, beat him and gouged out one of his eyes. They then shot him in the head and dumped his body in the Tallahatchie River. James Chaney was a civil rights activist who was lynched in 1964 by the KKK.

No matter what your feelings about George Zimmerman, it's obvious that he didn't set out to kill Trayvon Martin in cold blood when he left his house that day. He might or might not be a racist—it'd hard to know what's going on in someone else's head. He's certainly an ill-advised vigilante, who should have let the police take care of anyone he deemed suspicious. This was not the same sort of pre-planned KKK style slaughter that ended the lives of Till and Chaney. Equating this tragedy, that may have indirectly been the result of racism, to truly vicious hate crimes trivializes the circumstances surrounding the irreprehensible murders of these unfortunate men during the civil rights era.

The amount of speculation voiced by various media outlets about this case was astounding. Many TV and print outlets discussed what would have happened differently if Zimmerman's and Martin's races were reversed or if they were both black. This was nothing but speculation. I find speculation useless. Of course things would have been different if those involved were of different races. America is not post racial, and I don't believe it ever will be. But, there is absolutely no way for us to know exactly how it would have been different.

The media coverage of this event was appalling from the start. Everyone, no matter what the political slant of their organization or personal beliefs, decided who was guilty and who was innocent long before any of the evidence was revealed. In the eyes of conservative media, Zimmerman had a right to protect himself regardless of the fact that he followed an unarmed teenager. Liberal outlets condemned Zimmerman as a minority-hunting racist before they had all the facts as well.

News outlets last week were all Zimmerman, all the time. Don't get me wrong, this incident deserved coverage. Anytime a person dies needlessly, the causes, motivations and events leading up to it need to be examined. Other important news stories went by the wayside. While we were listening to Martin's lawyer tell bad jokes, the people of Egypt were rising up and dying as a result of it. Refugees in Syria were dying as well. Closer to home, the farm bill was passed stripped of its food stamp section. A new abortion law was passed in Texas. Many people, white and black died from gun violence. We'll never hear most of their names.

When we, as a nation, become obsessed with one story, no matter how tragic that story might be, we seem to forget all else that goes on in the world. No one issue is the ONLY issue.

While Americans were watching the Zimmerman trial with bated breath, waiting for a man who was only trying to save his own life to be acquitted or waiting for someone who hunted down an innocent kid to be punished, important stories went untold. Others who desperately needed their own tales of injustice to be voiced were left silent because the media was entirely focused on this one case.