Inconsistencies in the Media “Portrayals” of Law Enforcement Lethal Interventions

• In Event: Examining Representations of Police Shootings in the Media

Abstract

The recent police shootings have invigorated a passionate debate about police-community relations and whether proactive policing strategies have unfairly targeted African Americans. While the national media has focused a great deal of attention on these deaths and the Black Lives Matter movement, there has been almost a complete lack of media scrutiny on the large number of Native Americans who are being shot by the police or dying while in police custody.

In this research, we will track and compare the numbers of lethal interventions of African Americans and Native Americans from May 1, 2014 through October 2015. This year and a half period allows us to examine the three months prior and after the Michael Brown incident. We will use content analysis methodology to trace and compare the extent of print media coverage generated by these lethal interventions. We expect to find a huge increase in national media attention to police lethal interventions following the death of Michael Brown, and that Black Lives Matter activism has managed to keep the issue salient in the media. In contrast, we expect to find that the deaths of Native Americans have garnered minimal attention from the national media.

Authors

• Jean Schroedel, Claremont Graduate University

• Roger J. Chin, Claremont Graduate University