Real and perceived slights

Posted on September 30, 2016 by Nyah Tennell

By NYAH TENNELL

Police brutality and the use of excessive force is a major social and political issue, particularly with our nation on the brink of electing a new president. The coverage by the news media of incidents of brutality has caused major disruptions from coast-to-coast, and has many Americans on edge.

Police brutality is not a new phenomenon. If you ask a publisher or editor at one of the country’s African-American newspapers, she or he would tell you they’ve been covering these cases for a long time.

“We’ve been in business for 130 years,” said Robert Bogle, President and CEO of The Philadelphia Tribune. Tracey Williams-Dillard of the Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder, another African-American newspaper, said “It not only feels like there’s more coverage, there is more coverage. It’s not a perception, it’s definitely real,” According to an article written by Eliott C. McLaughlin of CNN, we’re just seeing more mainstream media coverage thanks to cell phones.

Cellphone videos captured by on-the-scene eyewitnesses have brought many stories into the light that, otherwise, would have been swept under the rug. Once the video hits the mainstream, usually via social media forums, journalists can then provide follow-up. Citizens, now armed with evidence, demand accountability and pursue justice.

Black newspaper executives feel that videos lend credibility not only to black victims’ versions of events in specific situations, but also to their versions of events historically. Where a victim’s race could affect a story’s perceived veracity, video permits no such prejudice.

Not only are we in a better position to capture video of police misconduct today, we’re also better equipped to disseminate the footage via social media.

However, news organizations may not be giving the same level of scrutiny, context and analysis to the various groups who face violence at the hands of police.

When you think of police brutality in the U.S., you think of black males being brutalized; however, black females have been victimized as well. According to an article written by Meredith Clark in USAToday, “black and brown women and girls are additionally brutalized in ways that men often aren’t,” says Clark. “And the data shows that police incidents involving women of color occur at a disproportionately high level compared with media coverage.”

More than 20 women of color have been killed in police-related incidents including Sandra Bland, who died in police custody in Texas on July 13, 2015.

Additionally, there are many who criticize the under-representation of incidents of police brutality at the top English-language networks. An article in the Huffington Post Feb. 24, 2015, raised the question of how major television networks cover police violence cases in which the victims are Hispanic. For example, Antonio Zambrano-Montes, a Mexican migrant worker, who was shot and killed by police officers on Feb. 10, 2015 in Pasco, Washington, gained coverage by Univision, the top-rated Spanish-language channel numerous times. However, the case was not portrayed with the same ferocity by Fox News or CNN, the two leading national news channels.

I am sure that the news media would prefer not to continuously inundate the public with tale after tale of police brutality, as it is an unfortunate reality and construct of our society and justice system.

The question is: Which story is more worthy of attention and, most importantly, why?

LeBron to stand for anthem

Posted on September 30, 2016 by Nicholas Bruens

By NICHOLAS BRUENS

Colin Kaepernick sparked a major discussion this year when he chose to kneel during the national anthem. It was done to protest the mistreatment African Americans are facing in the nation.

Kaepernick’s protest has caused many athletes to join his protest. LeBron James, however, will not be one of these athletes. LeBron has stated during the Cleveland Cavaliers’ media day that he will in fact be standing for the national anthem.

“Me standing for the national anthem is something I will do,” James told the news media. “That’s who I am. That’s what I believe in.”

James also made sure to mention that he also does not disagree with Kaepernick’s actions. The former MVP actually stated that he supports Kaepernick and his right to protest.

“You have the right to voice your opinion, stand for your opinion, and he’s doing it in the most peaceful way I’ve ever seen someone do something,” said James.

LeBron James is arguably the best player in the National Basketball Association. He is probably the most famous athlete in the world and is idolized by millions of people. When LeBron speaks, people listen.

These words carry a lot of weight because of the one who is saying them. As a result the media has been all over the statements. Multiple internet articles have been written and his statements have the topic of conversation on TV channels such as ESPN and Fox Sports.

This is very important because LeBron’s message is one that should be heard throughout the country. Even though he doesn’t share the belief that he should protest, he respects the other athletes enough to recognize that these players have rights and it should be respected.

The news media have recognized this message and are spreading James’ word for the nation to hear.

#normalizebreastfeeding gains attention

Posted on September 29, 2016 by Elizabeth Gelbaugh

By ELIZABETH GELBAUGH

On Sept. 22, Cindy Boren’s article in The Washington Post labeled a woman as an inspiration for pumping breast milk while running a half marathon.

Anna Young completed the Revel Big Cottonwood half marathon in Salt Lake City on Sept. 9, her first race since giving birth to her daughter five months prior.

“I thought it would be something the breastfeeding community would appreciate, but I had no idea I would get such a strong reaction. It’s been mostly positive and I’m grateful for that,” Young said in her e-mail to The Washington Post.

Breastfeeding, whether publicly or privately, has recently caused a social media frenzy, with the hashtag #normalizebreastfeeding popping up on Instagram and Twitter. Women have shared empowering photos of breastfeeding and created a supportive community for breastfeeding and non-breastfeeding mothers.

However, not everyone is expressing overwhelming support for this movement.

Six days later, Kristine Guerra wrote an article for The Washington Post about a man who punched his wife in the mouth after a male doctor witnessed her breastfeeding her newborn in the hospital.

According to a police report, Rafael Orozco became jealous and enraged when his wife exposed herself to feed her child, causing him to punch her and grab her neck. He even slapped the infant on the head before he was confronted by hospital staff.

The Washington Post has done an excellent job presenting both viewpoints of this issue while still remaining neutral in its reporting. However, when does neutrality for the sake of journalism wind up preventing change?

American women have many freedoms and privileges that women in other societies around the world couldn’t dream to have themselves, yet we are still encouraged to be embarrassed of our bodies and their life-giving functions.

With the outward support of respected mainstream news media, such as The Washington Post and The New York Times, society can rid itself of this idea of openly and confidently breastfeeding as taboo. News media are meant to be the voices of the people and progress is unlikely without their involvement.

194 victims and counting

Posted on September 23, 2016 by Courtney Chennault

By COURTNEY CHENNAULT

Since the birth of this nation, racism has torn people apart. The last few weeks have been no different as black men continue to be assaulted, gunned down and murdered by police officers without just cause.

Yesterday, the governor of North Carolina declared a state of emergency after protests broke out in response to the shooting deaths of Keith Scott, Tyre King and Terence Crutcher, and the countless others, at the hands of police.

I first became aware of the protest when I was scrolling through my news feed on Facebook. One of the pages I follow shared another person’s live broadcast of the protest. There were more than 44,000 people watching the video that this Facebook user posted.

Watching this video made me realize the true impact that social media are having on television news broadcasting. Live broadcasting, tweeting, etc. allows anyone to function as a journalist. I actually preferred to watch this person’s broadcasting over CNN’s or Fox’s because it felt much more authentic and was entirely uncensored.

According to The Guardian’s police killings database, since the beginning of 2016, 194 black people have been killed by the police, making blacks the most killed race by police officers. The Guardian also states that black men are nine times more likely than any other American to be killed by police.

The Wall Street Journal reports that in all of 2015, cops killed about 1,200 people, yet not a single officer was convicted of murder.

This lack of accountability of police officers, and their seeming disregard for the lives of people of color inspired Colin Kaepernick, quarterback of the San Francisco 49ers, and others around the country, to sit or kneel during the playing of the National Anthem as an act of protest against these injustices.

Though so many people were quick to criticize Kaepernick and his supporters for their peaceful protest calling attention to the injustice, many of these critics have nothing to say about the injustices themselves. People are calling out this tendency with the trending statement “Take a knee, people riot … take a bullet, people quiet.”

NBA’s Steve Kerr speaks out

Posted on September 23, 2016 by Michael Franca

By MICHAEL FRANCA

Colin Kaepernick, however you may feel about him, undeniably started a movement across the sporting landscape that shows no signs of slowing down.

His public protest sparked responses (both in support of and against him) from people involved in every major North American sport. From Megan Rapinoe in soccer, to Adam Jones and Tony La Russa in baseball, John Tortorella in hockey, and now Golden State Coach Steve Kerr (among others) in basketball.

The reaction to each of these people, however, has varied. Perhaps unsurprisingly, Steve Kerr and Colin Kapernick — who are sharing similar messages — have received very different public feedback.

While Kerr may not have made the same grandiose gesture Kaepernick did, he still expressed many of the same sentiments.

“No matter what side of the spectrum you are on, I would hope that every American is disgusted with what is going on around the country, with what happened in Tulsa two days ago, Terrence Cutcher … Unarmed black people are being killed indiscriminately around the country. And that’s what happened two days ago. That’s the message. That’s what matters. The other stuff you can talk about all day. Nobody is right. Nobody is wrong,” Kerr stated.

He even goes on to mention Kaepernick by name and cosign his movement. He says that the statement is “what our country is about” and praises the merits of the nonviolent protest.

The feedback Kerr, a white male, has gotten has been overwhelmingly positive. A simple search of his name on Twitter will yield nearly nothing but positive comments.

Do the same with Kaepernick, however, and the story is much different. The result will be endless streams of hate and death threats – something he publicly acknowledged – sprinkled with little rational commentary.

This discrepancy is both predictable and disturbing. Both men shared honest, eloquent, and important statements to shed light on a troubling situation.

The backlash that only one of them received serves as a fitting juxtaposition. It only adds more evidence of the discrimination that these men are commenting on.

The evolution of the thigh

Posted on September 22, 2016 by Claudia Brown

By CLAUDIA BROWN

In today’s society we see articles about appearance, health, style and, especially, weight. These articles range from how to be skinny, to healthy, to look like a model, look rich, look famous, look “cool” and look “chill.”

There are other topics within health and beauty that are discussed, but those listed above seem to be the most common.

The way the news media talk about body image is proven to cause body image problems in America such as anorexia, bulimia, body dysmorphic disorder and binge eating to name a few.

In America, our news media focus on what is in style. The popular body part that young women are focusing on now is their thighs. The style of thighs haa evolved from the thigh gap, to the thigh brow, to the mermaid thigh.

A young girl is considered to have a thigh gap is when standing up straight with their ankles touching, there is a visible gap between the thighs.

A thigh brow is when a young woman is sitting down and a crease in the leg forms between the hip and thigh. This is considered sexy because it shows a woman’s thinness while still having the typical woman curves.

The newest trend is called the mermaid thigh. This is when a woman puts their thighs together and the size of the thigh decreases from top to bottom, the look is accomplished looking like a mermaid’s tail.

This concept is harmful to young girls because the shape of a persons thighs is genetic, not how skinny they are or how much they work out.

Dr. Gill Rosalind discusses the news media’s effect on women and men around the country. “One of the most significant shifts in advertising in the last decade … has been the construction of a new figure: a young, attractive, heterosexual women who knowingly and deliberately plays with her sexuality.”

Rosalind explained that this new woman is slowly changing the way the news media represents women.

The news media’s way of portraying body types does not just affect women but men as well. Focusing on women’s bodies however, men then develop an inaccurate image of what women’s bodies are supposed to look like.

This may cause them to in fact be attracted to something that doesn’t naturally exist.

The news media, however, have the power to change this. Rosalind goes on to explain, “If more advertisements take on the view of the new stronger female, we will start to see a change in the way our culture defines women. This new women could potentially change how women feel about themselves and how they need to dress.”

NCAA to relocate North Carolina events

Posted on September 16, 2016 by Madison Brown

By MADISON BROWN

The NCAA announced Monday that it will relocate all of the seven scheduled championship events from North Carolina due to the state’s controversial transgender bathroom law that prohibits citizens from using bathrooms that match a gender other than what is listed on their birth certificates.

North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory passed the law, known as House Bill 2, in March.

The NCAA’s relocation announcement will affect the Division I men’s basketball tournament, commonly referred to as March Madness, in which six games were scheduled to occur in Greensboro, N.C., this coming March.

“We believe in providing a safe and respectful environment at our events and are committed to providing the best experience possible for college athletes, fans and everyone taking part in our championships,” Mark Emmert, NCAA president, said regarding the decision.

The NCAA has not yet announced where the relocated games will be played.

According to The New York Times, an NCAA spokesman said that North Carolina is the state which has hosted the most men’s basketball tournament games. This makes the relocation decision even more significant.

McCrory has faced harsh backlash from the media and the public since signing House Bill 2, and the NCAA’s recent decision is only making it worse.

Chris Sgro, Equality North Carolina executive director and a Democrat in the North Carolina House of Representatives, has been an outspoken adversary of House Bill 2 and Governor McCrory.

Sgro took to Twitter to express his frustration after the NCAA’s announcement.

Sgro is not the only one upset by the governor’s stance on LGBTQ rights and the NCAA’s feelings on the issue are not helping his popularity.

Nowhere to hide for Stockton’s Silva

Posted on September 16, 2016 by Alex Goldman

By ALEX GOLDMAN

Mayor Anthony Silva (R) of Stockton, Calif., has had one interesting run as mayor.

Pending the results of the upcoming November election, that run has the potential to continue.

Anyone privy to Valley politics is aware of Silva’s tenuous term as mayor. Perhaps none more so than Stockton Record columnist Michael Fitzgerald.

Silva’s bad rap has only been brought on by Silva himself. He has a laundry list of boneheaded decisions and proposals to his name.

What’s on that list, you ask? Bear in mind that this is an abridged version…

There’s the time he walked around town putting up campaign posters. At 2 a.m., In his bathrobe…

At a city council meeting, he declared himself Stockton’s first black mayor. Silva is Hispanic.

He proposed a vision he called “Stockton Proud” that would bring in cruise ships, mini golf, “fun rides,” and a space needle to Stockton’s port. It’s not as if Stockton was the largest American city to declare bankruptcy before Detroit.

When Carrie Underwood came to Stockton and had the misfortune of performing on the night of a city council meeting, Silva moved his agenda to the beginning of the meeting, declared a 10-minute break after some time and skipped the rest of the meeting to attend the concert.

After partying one night, he got into a drunk fight in his limo with a friend after a dispute about his wife.

Then there’s his Aug. 4 arrest while at his Mayor’s Youth Camp in Silver Lake, Calif., for providing alcohol to minors, playing strip poker with nude teenagers and recording conversations during last summer’s camp.

At every turn, Fitzgerald has been there to call the mayor on his bull. Or his weirdness. Sometimes it overlaps.

Fitzgerald’s responses have made an impression on me.

There’s something that tickles me in the right spot when I read one of his intelligently written articles or comments on Silva’s latest inane exploit. It must be the juxtaposition of idiocy and brains.

Such as what Fitzgerald had to say when Silva bounced from the city council meeting to see Underwood.

“It’s ironic that Silva postured as a Public Safety candidate,” Fitzgerald said. “Because one of the votes he skipped out on was the new health plan for city employees. Exit interviews with departing police cited unsatisfactory health insurance as a prime reason for quitting. The new health plan is therefore the most important step the city can take to retaining police hires.”

He proceeded to finish Silva off.

“A mayor sincerely concerned with law enforcement would want to vote on that,” Fitzgerald said. “A mayor who knows only how to campaign and to party would not.”

I had a good chuckle when reading about what Fitzgerald thought of Silva’s “half-baked” homeless plan.

Sometimes all Fitzgerald needs is a few words to get his point across.

I love Fitzgerald’s reporting. He doesn’t let Silva off the hook for anything, nor should he. Yet he’s able to do it with a comedic tone that I simply eat with a spoon.

Or maybe it’s just that juxtaposition.

Forgiveness is the answer

Posted on September 16, 2016 by Marissa Vonesh

By MARISSA VONESH

Rodney King, an African-American man, was severely beaten in 1992 by Los Angeles police officers. After the officers’ who beat King were acquitted, massive riots were triggered in the LA area, leaving many killed and buildings looted, damaged and burned.

Despite the violence and racial tension, King became known for his forgiveness and encouragement of forgiveness.

Today, his daughter, Lora King, is promoting the same thing. Lora King, along with members of the LAPD, spoke with young adults from the Los Angeles Conservation Corps, an organization dedicated to serving at-risk youth through job opportunities, education and training.

Lora King spoke on not generalizing all police officers and building bridges between the community and the police force.

In the past few years, racial tension in America has become the forefront of news especially concerning police and civilian contact.

Because of the newsworthy elements, often media report on shootings, beatings and other unjust actions that occur out of police civilian relationships. With the negativity that is commonly in news feeds, it is difficult to have a perspective of hope. Reporters will not comment every time people serve at a soup kitchen or open a door, but they will cover stories of violence and crime.

However, by reporting Lora King’s ability to stand side by side with members of the same police department that beat her father close to death, a necessary model of forgiveness is sprinkled among the heavy news of crime and disaster.

Sources in the greater California area, such as the San Bernardino County Sun and the SFGate tastefully decided to talk about the event. Not only was Rodney King a figure in the 1990s for racial tension and pardon, but his daughter serves as an effective symbol for combating the continuing issues the country faced 24 years ago.

Presidential health and campaign news

Posted on September 15, 2016 by Annette Reid

By ANNETTE REID

Last Friday Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton attended a 9/11 memorial in New York. Everything seemed to be okay with her until she left the ceremony before it ended. In a video taken by a bystander, Clinton is seen having difficulty walking and then fainting just before getting into an SUV. People around her had to assist her getting into the vehicle.

This video has been shown across all forms of news media and has been analyzed by not only journalists but also health professionals. It was even a treading topic on Twitter.

It is no secret that Hillary has struggled with health issues as of late. Along the campaign trail she has experienced a few coughing fits and was diagnosed with pneumonia on the two days prior to the 9/11 ceremony incident. However it was not publicly known that she had been diagnosed until Sunday night.

Some news outlets have been criticizing Clinton for not being forthcoming with her current health status even going so far as to lessen her credibility as a politician by saying that she is not transparent with the general public. Due to the pressure being put on her by the media, Clinton revealed even more medical information by releasing a letter written by her doctor on Wednesday.

Her opposition, Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, has questioned her health over the course of the election season as well. But this incident has made Trump reveal more about his own health as to not appear that he is hiding anything. He even went on the “Dr. Oz” show today and had Dr. Mehmet Oz analyze his doctor’s notes on TV.

The real question here is why some news organizations are pushing for presidential candidates to reveal such personal information instead of focusing on a nominee’s political views and how different today’s coverage of presidential elections have changed from those of the past. In the past, presidential nominees were not required to reveal their health status. Some of our most memorable presidents ran for office while suffering with serious health issues.

Franklin Roosevelt became ill with polio in 1921. Due to this he lost the ability to move his legs and then became paralyzed. In spite of that, he was elected as president in 1932 and ran for re-election in 1936, 1940 and 1944. However, his declining health during the re-election was never mentioned and after his doctor released a statement to the press saying that his health was okay reporters did not question it. Nevertheless, he died in office in 1945.

Another president who was elected to office while suffering health problems was John F. Kennedy. He had Addison’s disease and when confronted by his opponent over the matter, Kennedy simply had his doctors publicly declare that he was in good health. After that he was never questioned again.

As these examples show, former presidential candidates were not forced by the news media to reveal their health history so why is the press making such a big deal about it now?

A lot of it has to do with the news media’s tendency to attack politicians and want to show the public every presidential candidate’s weaknesses. However, forcing nominees to reveal every aspect of their health history might not be the right way to go about gathering information on them.

If the media wants to gather information on them they should focus on things that matter to public like where the candidates stand on issues. Instead of showing Hillary Clinton fainting multiple times per hour and over analyzing every second of the video, the focus should be about where she stands on issues so that come Election Day people can be well informed.

In sickness and in health

Posted on September 14, 2016 by Elizabeth Gelbaugh

By ELIZABETH GELBAUGH

Ah, the pursuit of the American Dream. Are any of us immune to this disease? The BBC doesn’t seem to think so.

In light of Hillary Clinton’s appearance at a 9/11 commemoration despite her pneumonia diagnosis, the BBC decided to pick apart the tendency of Americans to forego sick days and even paid vacation days in order to impress bosses who could potentially further their careers and to avoid missing a day’s salary.

In the U.S., we see this dedication to achieving our goals as normal, admirable even. However, BBC News reporter Brian Wheeler points out that, from a European perspective, this tendency is foolish and, at times, dangerous.

Wheeler reported that EU nations “guarantee 20 days’ paid leave a year, plus public holidays,” and, perhaps more importantly, European employees are not afraid to use them.

Of course, there is nothing wrong with loving and being dedicated to a job or career path, but when do the costs of this sacrifice overwhelm the benefits?

Wheeler mentioned how the outbreak of the norovirus vomiting bug at Chipotle was the result of employees coming into work sick rather than missing a day of pay. Were American policies concerning sick leave more lenient or generous, employees would not be forced to put themselves and others at risk in order to eke out a living.

Wheeler made a clever and strategic move in this article. By starting out with mention of Clinton, with election news being all the rage at the moment, Wheeler was able to spark a conversation about American paid-leave policies.

But is that what media must resort to today? It is disappointing to say the least that it takes a public official having a medical emergency at a well-covered event to start a conversation about an issue that has been placed on the back burner for years.

Perhaps, instead of focusing all our attention on the people fighting for a leadership position in which they can solve the nation’s problems, we must invest more time in discussing what those issues are and why they are important.

Kaepernick effect felt in hockey

Posted on September 9, 2016 by Alex Goldman

By ALEX GOLDMAN

The name Colin Kaepernick has probably permeated some portion of your brain tissue by now.

Kaepernick plays for the San Francisco 49ers of the National Football League. Surprise. It’s not his play that’s getting him headlines. The 49ers haven’t played a regular season game.

Not to mention the fact he isn’t even starting.

Yet he’s found himself in the news cycle in all the major — and minor — news outlets for purposely sitting, or most recently kneeling, during The National Anthem of preseason games.

“I am not going to stand up to show pride in a flag for a country that oppresses black people and people of color,” Kaepernick said.

The news media have reported on his choice of expression daily.

During a question and answer session with local journalists Marc Caputo (Politico), Patricia Mazzei (Miami Herald), and Dan Sweeney (Sun Sentinel), a student asked about the ongoing reporting of Kaepernick’s expression, including the reactions to the message. He wanted to know why news outlets continued to report on the same issue.

Caputo thought the relatively uncommon nature of Kapernick’s act was just cause, and fodder, for continued coverage.

Other athletes have joined in Kaepernick’s message. Soccer star Megan Rapinoe and Seattle Seahawks cornerback Jeremy Lane both took a knee during the anthem before games this past week.

While the protest has reached the soccer pitch, don’t expect any dissent in a hockey rink anytime soon. At least if John Tortorella is your coach.

On his radio show The Right Time with Bomani Jones, Jones brought up the remarks made by Tortorella, the United States National Team and Columbus Blue Jackets head coach.

“If any of my players sit on the bench for the national anthem, they will sit there the rest of the game,” Tortorella said.

I liked Jones’ take on the coach’s new rule.

“Who are you?,” Jones asked. “I’m a grown man. I get to make some of these decisions for myself. So I got to stand up for what you believe is the proper form of indoctrination.”

Well put.

A coach is there to set rules, sure. He’s not there to set the moral compass of the players he coaches, however.

It isn’t the first time Tortorella made news with his comments.

Turner case highlights racial issues

Posted on September 9, 2016 by Nyah Tennell

By NYAH TENNELL

Twenty-year-old Brock Turner, a former swimmer at Stanford University was arrested Jan. 18, 2015, after two graduate students discovered him on top of an unconscious woman outside Kappa Alpha fraternity at approximately 1 a.m.

Following the incident, Turner withdrew from Stanford and was found guilty of three felony charges: assault with intent to commit rape of an intoxicated or unconscious person, sexual penetration of an intoxicated person and sexual penetration of an unconscious person.

The maximum sentence for his crimes are 14 years in the state of California.

However, Turner got off with a mere six-month sentence, only serving three, under a California law that gives credit for time served.

Well, Judge Aaron Persky, you’ve officially set yet another standard for white-privilege and legal precedent.

Given Turner’s circumstance, he is no “true” criminal, right?

The seriousness and severity of rape should never be taken lightly or handled with leniency. Not only does it mock the pain and suffering experienced by the victim, light sentences and leniency for privileged individuals sets a precedent for the continuation of injustices.

Would the news media response have made more of a difference if Turner was black, or if it was a black judge deciding the same ruling?

Turner is no victim of college-drinking culture, America’s political and social constructs or social pressures.Turner is a felon, who has been let off by the hands of biased judging and white-washed, misogynistic loopholes in our justice system.

It is disturbing that some media outlets have cast Turner to be the victim of a broken system.

For example, a Sept. 4 CNN article written by Emanuella Grinberg and Janette Gagon is slightly misfocused in my opinion, and does too much work making the case that Turner is an athlete, and that it is not unusual for someone with a strong athletic and academic background to be sentenced leniently, if sentenced at all.

Although that assertion is probably true, the media as a whole tends to flee from topics of race.

Yet, this is white-privilege at its finest, and should be called as such.

Too much justification, too many excuses, and not enough sympathy and advocacy for victims of sexual assault and rape feed into the system and culture surrounding this very issue itself.

Large media corporations and conglomerates, like CNN, should not just report the news and statistics; they should speak out against unjust social constructs and unfairly punished injustices.

These media corporations help influence the beliefs and understanding of our community, and if more was done, the case could have possibly been overturned.

However, the case did get a generous response from many notable figures and outlets showing their advocacy for victims of sexual assault, and speaking out against the current culture.

The cast of HBO’s Girls created a brilliant message, entitled Why We’re So Quick To Disbelieve, in an effort to combat efforts to attack victim testimony in these cases.

USA swimming banned Turner for life and released the statement, “USA Swimming condemns the crime and actions committed by Brock Turner, and all acts of sexual misconduct,” USA Swimming spokesman Scott Leightman told ABC News. “Brock Turner is not a member of USA Swimming and, should he apply, he would not be eligible for membership.

Last but not least, as a result of the media outcry, California has moved to set a minimum amount of time to be served in sexual assault cases.

I truly hope that this case serves to set the stage for a movement towards more victim advocacy and support versus simple storytelling.

Media outlets should stand by victims of injustice with confidence and solidarity, without fear of being “biased,” actively seeking justice on the behalf of deserving survivors.