05.24.07

Weekly Poll: Why does mainstream media choose to report news in this way?

Posted in Weekly Poll at 4:52 am by admin

In August 2006, Paul A. Heavy and his friend Kevin Brown were driving in the pre-dawn hours when they spotted a car driven by Reynold Liang with three Asian friends as passengers. Cursing and spewing racial insults, they slammed their car into Liang’s. When Liang, 19, pulled over to check his car for damage, Heavey and Brown began pummeling him and passenger John Lu, 19. Liang was beaten with a metal automobile steering wheel lock. The court’s sentence for Paul A. Heavy’s crime was merely a slap on the wrist: a mandatory apology, 75 hours of community service, and five years of probation.

On Tuesday, 5/22/07, WNBC reported on the court decision using this headline:

“Student Offers Apology for Queens Hate Crime On Asians”

Newsday reported on the court decision using this headline:

“Student apologizes for racial attack”

The Times Ledger used this headline:

Little Neck man apologizes for Doug hate attack”

Why does mainstream media choose to report this incident in this way?

• A) His apology is the most important aspect of this case. The brutal hate crime he committed is not as important as his apology.
• B) It is important to extol the virtues of an apologetic criminal. Therefore, it’s ok to focus on the apology, rather than the crime.
• C) Asian Americans are, from a mainstream media perspective, effectively powerless. By glossing over the facts of this case and focusing on the (court ordered) apology of the assailant, the mainstream media ensures that they remain powerless.
• D) Asian Americans are second- or third-class citizens, and therefore should be satisfied with just an apology after having their faces bashed in while being called a “stupid gook”
• E) Some Other Reason (type your answer here)

Click here to vote in this survey!



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