While I’m not interested Studying journalism in 2016 and the wake of the election is both intriguing and hard. There are things that are published, broadcast, and said that are so politically driven it is hard to think that any sort of media outlet is unbiased. The political agenda that most agencies subscribe to is so apparent that it has driven me away from even wanting to be a journalist, despite my Journalism major. In fact, the people that take the most heat from this agenda are in the line of work that I now want to be in: the police. They are men and women who put their life on the line daily to protect us.
In getting into any life is greater than one another, I am interested in the five police officers in Dallas that were sniped in July. I am interested in the veteran that was on the brink of retiring in Palm Springs, but instead was killed by John Felix. I would like to talk about Lesley Zerebny, a new mother and murdered police officer. In fact, I would like to talk about how the division created by the media, whether it be racially or politically driven, that has led this country to try to justify the death of anyone.
I get it, police officers have killed innocent people in recent times. They should have “analyzed the situation better,” should have “tazed the individual, not shot,” or even “been slow to react.” Looking at individual cases in which the officer decided to pull the gun isn’t telling of the whole story. It doesn’t show the general population the various altercations with a similarly acting suspect, it doesn’t show how in the moment any suspicious movement can be interpreted as harmful, and it sure as hell doesn’t make someone who did not go through the police academy or training know better than the police officer that is risking their life.
The line that the media is drawing between we the people and the police is unhealthy and so wrong. Rather than standing against each other, we need to stand together. We need to stand for those officers who did go through a routine call correctly, we need to stand for those officers who saved innocent people, and we need to stand for those officers who paid the ultimate price by dying to protect. Have you ever noticed how the fluff stories about the police are few and far between? Try to think of the last one you read or heard about, or saw whilst scrolling down your Facebook page. It is important to be aware that good deeds of police officers happens more than you would know. Our police give back to the community and pour into it more than any local media would ever admit.
While I’m not calling you to look past the misdeeds of some bad police officers recently, I am asking that you look to see more good that these men and women do, and let that be our general consensus of the police. Do not let the media distort your vision.
Journalism in America is so skewed. Let us be the people who decide for themselves.
Grace Gaines