DON’T LET THE TELEVISION NEWS MEDIA DISTRACT YOU

The national news media, particularly the television news media is obsessed with the calamity besetting the NFL (National Football League).  On Friday, September 19^th all four of the major broadcast television networks, as well as, all of the cable television news and sports networks broadcast the press conference by NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell.  Mind you, this was the commissioner of a sports league.  Not the President talking about bombing Syria or sending troops to fight the Ebola outbreak in Africa.  This was a sports commissioner talking about the soap opera that has become the NFL.

I ask why so much media attention for the NFL and one answer that I come up with is that this is the media’s continued attempt to demean and degrade young Black males.  Never mind the fact that the majority of NFL players, Black, White or otherwise cause no trouble, are respected in their communities, and clearly know how to delineate what is appropriate behavior on and off the football field.  But that’s not newsworthy.  Instead the media chooses to repeat images over and over again showing Black males as aggressive and dangerous.

A second answer that I come up with is that the excessive media coverage is a diversion tactic designed to lessen the focus on all of the Black males who have recently died while engaged with law enforcement.  The media no longer gives these cases attention, and it is a purposeful attempt to make people less concerned.  But we cannot be distracted.  We have to continually seek justice for Chavis Carter in Arkansas, Michael Brown in Missouri, Eric Garner in New York, John Crawford III in Ohio, and Charles Smith in Georgia; all Black males who died while engaged with police.  Police officers have not been charged.  Grand Juries are moving at a snail’s pace.  They want you to forget.  The television news media is using the NFL to obstruct justice.

The NFL will fix itself.  It is a multi-billion dollar organization that will make the necessary adjustments.  The intense media attention will not make any difference about that.  But the television news media will continue to lead each newscast with the NFL, while people across America seek justice for those Black males killed seemingly for no reason.  Just imagine how much quicker justice might be done if the news media gave the same kind of attention to those stories.  But instead the television news media chooses to run a news conference by the Commissioner of the NFL at 3:00 o’clock in the afternoon; a time generally reserved for soap operas.  But I guess that makes sense.

SAM