12AD.8 Social Activism in the Media

While this inquiry set ultimately aims to focus on the impact of the internet revolution on journalism, in order to work successfully with the case study students will also learn some historical context about Emmett Till, Trayvon Martin, media portrayals of the murders of both young men, and racialized violence.

Emmett Till was a 14-year-old African American boy who was lynched in Mississippi on August 28, 1955. He was from Chicago and had traveled south to visit and stay with relatives. He was accused of offending a white woman, Carolyn Bryant, in a grocery store. Later that night two white men, Roy Bryant, Carolyn’s husband, and J.W. Milam, Roy’s half brother, knocked on the door of Till’s uncle, Mose Wright, and asked to speak with Till. The two men took Till from the home. This was the last time that his family would see him. Till’s body was found in the river showing evidence of tremendous abuse and violence.

When Till’s body was returned to Chicago, his mother, Mamie Till Bradley, chose to hold an open-casket funeral. Newspaper and magazine photographs of Till’s mutilated body worked to inform the nation about the events that had taken place. Jet magazine, an African American publication, published images of Till’s mutilated body, open-casket funeral, and the lines of people who came to pay their respects to Till and his family in Chicago. African American newspapers around the country picked up this story to draw attention to racialized violence in the United States, sparking what some historians regard as an impetus for a new phase of civil rights activism. Despite the national outrage and demands for justice, Bryant and Milam were acquitted by an all-white jury. A year later they admitted, in a magazine interview, that they had killed Till.

The media environment surrounding Till’s murder, funeral, and the trial that acquitted his killers is one object of study for this inquiry set. While Black newspapers widely reported on and published various elements of Till’s story, non-Black newspapers, television, and radio companies employed African American journalists, and they presumed a white audience for their journalism. However, the 1950s are regarded as something of a highwater mark in the embrace of “objectivity” as a governing rule of journalism. Journalists committed to standards of professionalism, research, science, and expertise. Finally, although television was expanding in its impact and reach at the time of Till’s murder, it was not yet the national mass medium that it would become in the 1960s. By 1956, around 65 percent of American households had television sets (by the end of the decade this would reach about 90 percent). Thus, in the 1950s, most Americans received their news and consumed media through newspapers, magazines, and radio.

Trayvon Martin was a 17-year-old African American boy who was killed in Sanford, Florida, on February 26, 2012. Martin was walking back to the house where he was staying after stopping at a 7-Eleven. He was unarmed and wearing a gray hoodie over his head. George Zimmerman, a 28-year-old member of the local community watch, spotted Martin and called 911 to report that he was following a person who looked suspicious. When police arrived they found Martin dead from a bullet wound and Zimmerman with blood on his face. Zimmerman had shot and killed Martin. Zimmerman claimed that he had shot Martin in self-defense. Zimmerman argued that Florida’s “Stand Your Ground” law, which allows citizens to use deadly force if they reasonably believe that they face imminent threat, permitted him to use this kind of deadly force on Martin. Zimmerman was eventually put on trial for Martin’s murder. He was acquitted in 2013. His acquittal set off a series of protests that provided a catalyst for the Black Lives Matter movement.

Media coverage of this event spanned across all forms of twenty-first-century coverage from television to social media such as Twitter. Coverage included cable television news programs, blogs and opinion writing, and social media debate. The media environment in the 2010s, while more familiar to teachers and students, is notable for the expansion of ideologically driven news outlets. The popularity and ubiquity of conservative talk radio, cable news, and websites accelerated from the 1990s onward. In addition, by 2012 MSNBC had firmly committed itself to be the liberal alternative to Fox News, and the online sphere gave voice to left and liberal-left perspectives often ignored in the mainstream media. Another defining feature of the media environment in which the Martin murder occurred is the crisis that professional journalism has suffered in the face of online media (and advertising). The 2000s saw consolidation of newspaper ownership and the collapse of many local papers. While digital media in some ways has enabled a democratization of who can speak up in the public sphere, it has also undermined the scope and scale of investigative journalism and reporting.

This inquiry set asks students to examine the role that media outlets played in disseminating information about these two murders. Students will focus on the role of print journalism in documenting and calling to action after the Till murder. And students will focus on the role of the internet, social media, and new forms of journalism to explain the significance of Martin’s murder.

TEACHER BACKGROUND

Introductory Activity: Analyzing Images (Source 6)

Students will use an art analysis strategy to observe Source 6, the painted mural of Trayvon Martin. Ask students to simply observe the art for one full minute, in silence. After looking at the art, students should write down their first response to the art: What did it make them feel? What did they think about?

As a whole class or in small groups, students discuss what they see in the artwork. Are there elements that repeat? Are there elements that contrast or stand out? Are there elements that act as symbols for something? Students may also make observations about the formal elements of the work, depending on their familiarity with art. Teachers can prompt students to examine the use of lines, shapes, color, form, composition, and format.

Finally, students use their observations to create questions to ask about the Trayvon Martin case and to determine the artist’s message. Use the student handout to guide this activity.

Paraphrasing (Source 4)

Students may read this source in pairs. Pairs of students should sit shoulder to shoulder, as they will be reading out loud. Sitting in this way allows students to read quietly to each other and manage the classroom volume as each pair reads. One student will read the first paragraph aloud to the other student. The second student will paraphrase what they heard from the reading. The paragraphs can be split in half, depending on the students’ reading level and reading endurance.

Once the second student paraphrases out loud, the pairs will work together to mark the text. They should highlight or underline any evidence that explains how the Trayvon Martin story was covered or how news, in general, is gathered. The text, particularly paragraph 1, has negative examples. For instance, the author states “during that case there was no social media; there was no Facebook” in reference to the O.J. Simpson case. Students might highlight that as an example of what is used now to cover news, as opposed to in past years. Student pairs switch roles. The second partner reads, the other paraphrases, and then they work together to highlight.

As pairs, groups, or as a whole class, students can use the text to discuss how media coverage has changed and how that change has been influenced by the internet. Students can also discuss how modern media coverage influenced perspectives on George Zimmerman’s guilt or innocence.

Annotating Text to Determine Meaning (Source 2)

For this activity, students will need four different colored highlighters or four different annotation symbols to use while reading.

Before reading, if students can see an image of the newspaper layout, they should engage in the art analysis activity linked to Source 6. It is valuable in this case to analyze the visual layout of the newspaper as well as the written text.

Students will read the text four times, each with a different purpose. Each time they read, they will use a different highlighter or marking symbol. On the first read-through, students should highlight any words and/or phrases that describe Emmett Till and his actions. On the second read-through, students should highlight any words and/or phrases that are used to describe the families and their actions. On the third read-through, students should highlight any words and/or phrases that describe the protests, the protesters, and their actions. Finally, on the fourth read-through, students should highlight any words that describe the perpetrators and their actions. The handout will help students complete this literacy activity.

Directions

• Introductory Activity Using Source 6, Trayvon Martin Mural
  • Students will use an art analysis technique observe Source 6 to introduce themselves to Trayvon Martin’s story and predict what larger issues may have been involved.
  • Instructions for this activity are outlined on the handout titled “Analyzing Art of Trayvon Martin.”
• Literacy Activity Using Source 4, Coverage of the Trayvon Martin Case
  • This is a pairs reading activity.
  • Students should number the paragraphs of the source for referencing.
  • Pairs reading:
    • Teachers will place students in pairs that sit shoulder to shoulder.
    • The first student will read the first paragraph out loud to their partner.
    • Their partner will then paraphrase the reading back to them.
    • Together pairs should highlight or underline any evidence that explains how the Trayvon Martin story was covered or how news, in general, is gathered. The text, particularly paragraph 1, has negative examples. For instance, the author states “during that case there was no social media; there was no Facebook” in reference to the 1995 O.J. Simpson case. Students might highlight that as an example of what is used now to cover news, as opposed to in past years.
    • After the first paragraph, pairs switch roles. The first paraphraser is the reader and so on.
  • Teachers should then guide a whole-class discussion about how media coverage has changed and how that change has been influenced by the internet. Students can also discuss how modern media coverage influenced perspectives on George Zimmerman’s guilt or innocence.
• Literacy Activity Using Source 2, Emmett Till Article
  • Students will need four different colored highlighters or four different annotation symbols to use while reading.
  • Students will organize the information from the article in the handout titled “Comparing Emmett Till and Trayvon Martin.”
    • Before reading, students will look at and describe the layout of the article in the first row of the handout.
    • Next, students read the text and highlight or annotate words and/or phrases used in the article to describe what Emmett Till did.
    • Next, students read the text again and highlight or annotate (using different colors or symbols) words and/or phrases used to describe Emmett Till’s family and their actions.
    • Students will work their way through the article two more times, looking for specific words and/or phrases that match the last two rows on the handout.
    • This work could also be broken up between two or four students who then discuss what they found. Either way, the information should be recorded in the handout.
• Use Sources 1, 3, and 5 as visuals to enhance this literacy activity.
• Research Activity for Media Comparison
  • Students will research online to find one article of news coverage about Trayvon Martin. Students will find the most success with this activity if they can find news coverage of protests that resulted from the Trayvon Martin case in order to better mirror what is written about in the Detroit Tribune article on Emmett Till. Students should also aim to find American news sources to better illustrate the internet’s influence on modern media.
  • Suggested search terms: “Trayvon Martin protest news 2012.”
    • With their online article, students will follow the steps for the literacy activity using Source 2 and add those answers to the handout.
• Closure Activity
  • Using the source evidence and information gathered from the previous activities, students will create a brief written response to the investigative question, How has the internet revolution impacted journalism, and what are its effects on the coverage of public affairs and current issues?
    • To begin, teachers will lead students in a whole-class discussion based on these questions: Does this comparison support the arguments posed in the transcript of the presentation in Source 4? What impact might the internet revolution have had on modern media coverage? In what ways are each of these forms of coverage similar? In what ways are they different?
    • In pairs or groups of four, students can continue the discussion using the evidence gathered and the critical analysis discussion frames on page 587 of the California History Social Science Framework. This will help students review what they discovered in the source analysis and will help them synthesize the information prior to writing.
    • Each individual student will write a brief paragraph answering the question to show their overall understanding of what they have learned. Students should base their answers in evidence and will need to use quotes, paraphrases, and source descriptions in their written answers.

Handouts

12AD.8 Social Activism in the Media Student Handout 1

12AD.8 Social Activism in the Media Student Handout 2

• The Library of Congress. The Library of Congress’ Primary Source Analysis Tool supports an inquiry model of instruction by asking students to first observe, then reflect, then question. Their customizable tool includes specific prompts for student interrogation of books and other printed materials, maps, oral recordings, photographs and paintings, and many other types of primary sources.
• The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA). NARA has developed a vast collection of document analysis worksheets, ready for classroom use. Their website offers teachers a wide collection of customizable tools – appropriate for working with photographs, maps, written documents, and more. NARA has also customized their tools to meet the needs of young learners, and intermediate or secondary students.

Both case studies deal with the issue of race in America. While this lesson ultimately asks students to describe how the internet has influenced journalism, racism and the vulnerability of Black men in the face of the law are certainly an integral part of the story. The details of Emmett Till’s murder are well documented and understood, but in discussing the circumstances of Trayvon Martin’s death students and teachers may have strong feelings about the outcome of the case.