I’ve Heard this Story Before: A Narrative Criticism of News Coverage of Ferguson
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- Created Date
- 2015
- Description
On August 9, 2014, White police officer Darren Wilson fatally shot unarmed, Black teenager Michael Brown in the St. Louis, MO suburb of Ferguson. The shooting sparked a national debate regarding the role of law enforcement and the dependability of the justice system in the United States. Throughout history, narratives have placed Whiteness at the center of society has portrayed our justice system as fair and unbiased whilst criticizing and demeaning those who call it into question. This narrative seeks to maintain a social order that perpetuates stereotypes and oppresses people of color in the United States. I argue that CBS news coverage repeats this narrative in order to make sense of the shooting, the grand jury decision not to indict Wilson on August 24, 2014, and the protests which ensued following each of those events. Despite sparking national protests calling for justice for Brown, law enforcement reform, and a discussion which legitimizes institutional and aversive racism, new
Published as part of the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse Journal of Undergraduate Research, Volume 18 (2015)
- Creator
Ryan, Eleanor
- Partner
- Recollection Wisconsin
- Contributing Institution
- University of Wisconsin-La Crosse
- Publisher
- University of Wisconsin-La Crosse
- Subjects
- University of Wisconsin-La Crosse -- Students -- Research -- Periodicals
College students -- Research -- United States -- Periodicals
Journals
Communication -- Study and teaching - Type
- text
- Language
- English
- Rights
- This material may be protected by copyright law (e.g., Title 17, US Code). For more information about the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse Murphy Library's copyright, fair-use, and permissions policies, please see https://digitalcollections.uwlax.edu/.
- Chicago citation style
- Ryan, Eleanor. I’ve Heard this Story Before: A Narrative Criticism of News Coverage of Ferguson. 2015. Retrieved from the Digital Public Library of America, https://digitalcollections.uwlax.edu/jsp/RcWebImageViewer.jsp?doc_id=3c1bba49-8c02-45b4-b439-dac96b962476/wlacu000/00000013/00000552. (Accessed March 28, 2024.)
- APA citation style
- Ryan, Eleanor, (2015) I’ve Heard this Story Before: A Narrative Criticism of News Coverage of Ferguson. Retrieved from the Digital Public Library of America, https://digitalcollections.uwlax.edu/jsp/RcWebImageViewer.jsp?doc_id=3c1bba49-8c02-45b4-b439-dac96b962476/wlacu000/00000013/00000552
- MLA citation style
- Ryan, Eleanor. Retrieved from the Digital Public Library of America <https://digitalcollections.uwlax.edu/jsp/RcWebImageViewer.jsp?doc_id=3c1bba49-8c02-45b4-b439-dac96b962476/wlacu000/00000013/00000552>.