Floor tiles at the Basilica of St. John Lateran in Rome. The pattern creates an illusion of three-dimensional boxes. PHOTO: Public Domain
Social networks have been buzzing today with news of the July 7 shootings of police officers and civilians [1] at a Dallas, Texas protest against the extrajudicial killings of Alton Sterling [2] and Philando Castile [3] earlier this week. Instead of just following and commenting on the news, however, Trinidad and Tobago twitter user @battymamzelle [4] decided go deeper. “I think that's what I'll do today,” she tweeted [5]. “Point out news frames [6] and how they slant the story.”
Here are some excerpts from @battymamzelle's running commentary.
Think critically about what is reported and how it's being said. More importantly, look for what's being left off the page and why.
— Catherine Young (@battymamzelle) July 8, 2016 [7]
Riffing also off tweets from other users, @battymamzelle highlighted features of the Dallas media coverage such as the comparison of the killings with 9/11, although “police were not the main target of 9/11 [8]“.
Comparison w/o context. 9/11 did not target police. Note also lack of quotes from civilians. https://t.co/xMjbohGjtx [9] pic.twitter.com/ao8w7H6oX6 [10]
— Catherine Young (@battymamzelle) July 8, 2016 [11]
The characterisation of the Black Lives Matter movement as a terrorist organisation [12]:
This is an active choice to implicitly link BLM to violence against police. Watch that.https://t.co/uivqbXs3CI [13]
— Catherine Young (@battymamzelle) July 8, 2016 [14]
The positioning of the shooter as “militant and anti-police [15]” by selecting a photo of him wearing a dashiki instead of his army uniform:
Clearly, that does not align with the story. The war is supposed to be ON the police and armed forces, not FROM them.
— Catherine Young (@battymamzelle) July 8, 2016 [16]
And the repeated use of the shooter's middle name—”Xavier”—arguably to link him with Malcolm X:
Then we tie him to a civil rights leader who advocated violent retaliation as a justified response. Slowly, the picture takes form.
— Catherine Young (@battymamzelle) July 8, 2016 [17]
The New York Daily News’ was singled out for special mention, on account of the last-minute replacement of its original cover [18]—which featured the names of black victims of police violence—with one about the Dallas events:
Again, agenda-setting. They are implicitly telling us that dead cops matter more than dead black people.https://t.co/wB32W9YJ7w [19]
— Catherine Young (@battymamzelle) July 8, 2016 [20]
@battmamzelle staved off accusations of rabble-rousing by reminding the Twitterers of her credentials:
This thread isn't to be petty or rile people up btw. My BA is in journalism and my MA in Media Studies. I am just watching theory play out.
— Catherine Young (@battymamzelle) July 8, 2016 [21]
Follow along or read the archive of @battymamzelle's Twitter dialogue here [22].