One of the recent events that have taken place in the U.S. concerns protests following the death of George Floyd, an African American. A viral video emerged in May showing a white police officer kneeling on Floyd’s neck. While Floyd gasped for breath and begged the police officer to stop, another police officer stood guard, oblivious to the plight of George, and was seemingly uninterested in intervening. Nevertheless, the biggest issue is how the events following the death of Floyd were depicted by both the print and audio channels. The purpose of this essay is to present the similarities and differences of the print and audio channels, and lastly, analyze the implications of such differences and similarities, especially in relation to marketing and public relations.
To begin, the Washington Post, one of the prominent media stations analyzed the protests following the death of George Floyd using the print and audio channels. One of the print sources was the Washington Post newspaper that was available online on 6 th of June. In this newspaper, Putnam and Chenoweth (2020), reporters for the media company analyzed how the protests had been widespread. The reporters analyzed how many cities across the country, and even the seemingly small towns had risen in support of the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement to agitate for an end in police brutality and discrimination against the African Americans. The reporters’ aim was to report how the movement had gained momentum as well as support even among the whites, many of whom would probably be assumed to be against protests that do not concern them. The tone adopted by this print media piece is neutral and shows how Americans collaborate to agitate for a just cause. Reading through this print source, one sees that the language used by the authors seems to encourage the audience, mainly Americans to turn out and join the wave.
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However, the Washington Post also posted a video on YouTube on 9 th June about similar protests, just three days after publishing the story on their print media. In the video, the protests are violent. The media captures protesters who do not have shirts pelting stones and engaging law enforcement officers in running battles. The police officers throw teargas at the protesters. In some instances, the same media shows some people looting stores and destroying property. In this video and audio combination, the protests do not seem to be about the death of George Floyd; rather, the media tries to project the image of hooliganism and chaos. People who had read about the protests on the Washington Post newspaper three days previously would be astonished at the events captured and recorded by video cameras.
The most prominent similarity about the print and audio coverage of George Floyd’s murder protests is that the theme is one; to cover how people agitate for an end to police brutality. Journalists travel to different cities across the country to cover the protests to show them to the local and international community. Since the death of Floyd was a big story which gained international attention, every media station tried as much as possible to be ahead of events and take the best captions. Another similarity is that both the print and media captured voices of some of the protesters. Perhaps the media stations included these voices to make the reports to be as objective as possible. Sometimes if such voices are not included, the media can be accused of being biased, and, therefore, they can lose credibility. Therefore, the journalists given the task to report across the cities tried to balance their own assessments and opinions with those of the real protesters.
One of the differences between the print and audio coverage of the protests is how they are presented. In the print media, the newspaper adopts a neutral language. Perhaps it is because the editors changed how the journalists had initially wrote about the protests. The editors may have influenced or changed the wording of the report either to perpetuate a certain narrative or did not want to elicit much criticism from the public, especially among members of the MLM movement about bad coverage and jeopardizing the objectives of the movement. Therefore, they had to adopt a neutral language to avoid such criticism. It is also possible that the editors or even the journalists covering the story were affiliated or supported the MLM movement and wanted to use the media to help agitate for the rights of African Americans. Therefore, the subject of violent protests is not captured lest it obscures the intended narrative.
The audio coverage, which also combines with video, shows some raw footage and events of the protests. Indeed, some protesters want to use violence and some are depicted looting and damaging personal property. The audio also aptly captures the emotions of the protesters; some are angry, some remorseful, while others just chant as they march in the streets. Although some quarters may criticize the journalists who recorded the audio as well as video events of the protests for being biased, they still show some of the happenings. The protests might have largely peaceful, but the audio also shows that some people may have been chaotic and used violence. If a report was to be written about the protests, relying only on the print sources would distort the reality of the events as the print media does not capture the emotions displayed during the protests.
From the differences and similarities of the audio and print coverage, the audio seems to be the most suitable method of capturing the real emotions of people involved in the protests. In relation to marketing and public relations, the audio is best for relaying as well as capturing the emotions and feelings of people. For instance, when conducting market research about how people feel about new products or certain ways of doing things, the audio captures the raw reactions of people. On the other hand, when people are instructed to present reports of similar reactions in print form, they may distort the responses. In fact, when several researchers are told to present reports about similar events or people’s reactions, these reports may vary greatly. The reports may be distorted to foster individual narratives or biases, and, therefore, when creating strategies based on those reports, some of them may not work because of distortion. However, listening to the audio projects the true reactions and responses of people. Using such reactions to address concerns or formulate strategies may be appropriate.
To conclude, print and audio reporting can have significant differences, especially in the way the message is delivered. Audio captures real emotions and when it is combined with video, it enhances those emotions as well as feelings. Audio can be depended upon especially if it is not edited or interfered with. On the other hand, print media often to a great extent involves the input the author, as well as other people who may be involved in editing. As such, use of print sometimes distorts the message. Therefore, when using print, it is also essential to use audio to foster credibility of the message. The two forms can be used simultaneously not only for credibility purposes but also to ensure that the message reaches to as a wide audience as possible.
References
Putnam, L., & Chenoweth, E. (2020, June 6). The Floyd protests are the broadest in U.S. history — and are spreading to white, small-town America. The Washington Post . https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2020/06/06/floyd-protests-are-broadest-us-history-are-spreading-white-small-town-america/
Washington Post. (2020, June 9). A video timeline of the crackdown on protesters before Trump’s photo op. YouTube . https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JxYmILDya0A
