Paige Christensen

Jackie Burr, Instructor

English 2010, Section 2

Due: April 18, 2018

Police Coverage in the News

Think about the last news story you heard about police officers. Did it involve a

police shooting, if so was the police officer viewed as “justified” in their choice to shoot or

in how they handled the situation? Was there only one opinion displayed in the

presentation of the story, if so what was the opinion/ point of view? Is news coverage

being reported fairly and objectively, or is it subtly being displayed with only one point of

view? An example of this is an officer involved shooting that happened in Saratoga prings

tah on September 10, 2014 . It happened at the Top Stop in aratoga prings at Crossroads

Boulevard and Redwood Road. Through interviews and conversations with officers in the

department at the time, i have heard many things. The officers that i was able to talk about

all generally agreed that the investigation was timely moving and the officers involved

were justified and that they had clean records. Chief Burton was interviewed by KSL news

reporters and also agreed with these statements because “he's received no official

complaints on either Schauerhamer or Judson, nor does the department have a history of

racial discrimination” (Jacobson; KSL). Cassandra Chaney in her paper about racism and

police brutality quotes ​Marger about racism they say “racism is an ideology, or belief

system, designed to justify and rationalize racial and ethnic inequality” (p. 25)and

“discrimination, most basically, is behavior aimed at denying members of particular ethnic

come from racism. In the end it was ruled that the officers were justified in the shooting

because the victim, Darien Hunt, was not listening to commands, he had a weapon of a

Katana Sword, and he was going towards a largely populated area, the Walmart. The

department and officers involved in the shooting were accused of racial profiling

throughout the case. Representation for the department explains that the officers choice to

act and shoot had nothing to do with his race and everything to do with his actions. Jeremy

Wright was another officer working for Saratoga Springs at the time of this event and

investigation. He says that the investigation was pretty fast moving and that when things

are fast no matter the case you have to make your decision, it is in informed decision but

has to be made, and then you have to stand by it. The department made the statement that

there was no racial profiling, and they stood by their statement (Wright). The news

company and channel KSL did a story on this shooting. As i watched the interview and the

news coverage the two reporters and anchors women did pretty well with staying objective

in reporting the story. None of them gave any personal opinions, they just stated facts and

asked questions. However there was a clip of the Hunt family talking about how they felt

about the situation. Mrs. Hunt felt that “All I see is my son being murdered and nobody

wanting to come forward” (Hunt, Jacobson, KSL). Although the news channel personnel

themselves stayed objective they showed this clip, which is a very one point of view clip.

Making the entirety of the coverage not all objective, but displaying one point of view more

than the other. Another form of media for reporting news is through social media. Now

this is not put out by new channels or companys, but by people themselves. So it makes
sense that there is only one point of view represented. A case that was discussed a lot

about on social media is the Michael Slager and Walter Scott case. Walter Scott was shot on

April 4, 2015 in a vacant lot in South Carolina (Smith, KSL). In this case there was multiple

types of media used, like a key video. This video was taken by a pedestrian who happened

to be walking by at the time of the scene happening. In the video Slanger shoots eight times.

Since this video was taken by a public personal it was very easy for it to be put all over

media very quickly after it happened. This video was used in the presentation of the case,

and was used all over social media to make statements. There were many post on facebook,

instagram, twitter, and more social media platforms about the case and about Slanger. One

is post on instagram says “THANK YOU!!!! Finally one of these racist-a$$ cops gets

convicted!...” ( t.one_Capone) This was not posted by an official news company, however

this is how many people in today's world get their news information, through social media

post like this one. So if this is the only point of view someone were to see then they would

most likely gain the same point of view. Because they will most likely not look further into

the story or case, they will just read what appears on their feed and base opinions off of

that. An immediate consequence that happened for Slanger was right after the video came

out he was fired from his department in Charleston South Carolina. Now the News

company KSL did do a report on this case as well. They did very well at reporting the facts.

They explain the Shooting, Setting, the Defence, The Jury, and Punishment, all in an

objective way. Without any specific points of view (Smith). In the end of the case Slanger

was ruled guilty, and convicted of second degree murder and obstructing justice. He was

sentenced nineteen to twenty-four years in prison. Slang was also much accused for racial
profiling and be racist in his decision to shoot Scott. This is a key story used in the “Black

Lives Matter” campaign. Many other programs highly support the Black Lives Matter

campaign including the Episcopal Church they state the following:

“​Black lives matter; they matter to God and they should matter to

all Americans. However, as we continue to witness unjust and

unconstitutional killing of black nwn by the police, we must ask:

What is the role of the Episcopal Church in providing safe space

for and mediating discussions of the role of policing in America as

it continues to maintain racial attitudes and values that have

negative effects on the life chances of blacks in America?”

(Fisher-Stewart 439)

This document is an example of people assuming that all officers in general are racist

because of stories they hear that are similar to the Slanger story. Now in this example of a

story the official news company did not display one or another point of view to persuade

the public, they were quiet fair. It is just the fact that not everyone is willing to listen to the

full coverage provided by the official news companies.

The face of police and law enforcement officers is changing. There is definitely more

women in today's police force then there was just ten years ago. There is also many

ethnicities that are represented in the police force today. For example in my grade i have

three friend who are all in a school program for police training, and one of them is a girl

and the two others are filipino and samoan. So overall there is becoming more diversity in

today's police force. Something else that has changed in the last not only ten but twenty
and thirty year is how many little children want to be police officers as a career or job when

they grow up. When my father was little he knew he wanted to be a police officer, and so

did jeremy. Through talking to many people of the baby bust generation many of them as a

child thought it would be a dream job to be a police officer, because they were seen as an

everyday hero. Then as i talked to the Xennials still many wanted to be a police officer at a

young age, but much less actually became one. Then as i continued to talk to Y and today's

Millennials there are many less of them who were interested in being a police officer when

they grow up. There is a few reason for this; one being there is many other options now for

careers, another is they do not make nearly as much money as other careers, like doctors

and veterinarians, also because many who are originally interested in becoming a police

officer see how they are treated unfairly by public

(Adams)
 From growing up with many close relatives and direct family members in police

work i have heard a lot of the background to many situations including officers and the

news. I also do very well to keep up with the current news and have my own opinions. In

the end the professional news channels do a good job as staying objective in their story

coverage. But other places of news being reported share all and only their points of view.

NEED GOOD END SENTENCE

FISHER-STEWART, GAYLE. "To Serve and Protect: The Police, Race, and the

Episcopal Church in the Black Lives Matter Era." ​Anglican Theological Review​, vol. 99, no. 3,

Summer2017, pp. 439-459. EBSCO​host​,

search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&AN=124514019&site=ehost-live.

Chaney, Cassandra and Ray Robertson. "Racism and Police Brutality in America."

Journal of African American Studies​, vol. 17, no. 4, Dec. 2013, pp. 480-505. EBSCO​host​,

doi:10.1007/s12111-013-9246-5.

Adams, Susan. Forbes company. “What kids in 2015 want to be when they grow up.”

December 14, 2015 Web. Accessed April 16, 2018.

T.one_capone. Instagram for Tony. Instagram.com. Date of posting. Web. date of

Smith, Bruce. AP new guide: The Michael Slanger Case. December 2, 2016. Web.
https://www.ksl.com/?sid=42409750​. April 16, 2018 .

Jacobsen, Morgan. Police release names of officers involved in Saratoga Springs

Wright, Jeremy. Personal interview. March 30, 2018.