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| The Miami Herald has featured the Trayvon Martin story on six section front pages since last Friday. (Click graphic to enlarge.) |
Question: What do Michael Beatty and Trayvon Martin have in common?
Answer: Both were young black men who were shot to death.
On Nov. 14, 2010, Michael Beatty, 20, was gunned down in broad daylight as he left a Liberty City market. His murder was recorded on a surveillance camera. His killer has never been caught.
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| Gunman wearing hoodie chases Michael Beatty on Nov. 14, 2010. |
Trayvon Martin, 17, was also shot and killed. He died last Feb. 26 after being shot by a Crime watch captain at a Sanford, Fla. apartment complex. Trayvon was returning from a nearby 7-11 where he had bought a can of iced tea and a bag of Skittles.
But, that's where the similarities end.
Since Trayvon was gunned down less than a month ago, the Miami Herald has published at least 24 stories containing tens of thousands of words on every aspect of the young man's death.
The Herald never printed one word on Michael Beatty's death.
The sad, inescapable fact is that young black men have a greater chance of being murdered by other young black men in their own neighborhoods than they do of being gunned down by a paranoid Crime Watch captain. It's a fact the Herald hasn't bothered to mention in its sometimes breathless and superheated coverage of this story.
And, for some unexplained reason the Herald is treating a story that occurred hundreds of miles from Miami like it's the Crime of the Century. All this while the paper routinely ignores stories of equal importance that occur a just few miles from its building.
Here's a question for Herald editors: Didn't the brutal shooting of Michael Beatty in Nov. 2010 deserve just as much coverage; or at least a tiny fraction of the coverage that Trayvon Martin's death is now receiving?
And, isn't the epidemic of violence occurring almost daily in Liberty City and Overtown just as worthy of coverage as Trayvon's killing at the Retreat at Twin Lakes?
Miami Heat LeBron James hoodies photo Trayvon Martin photo
CNN, Fox, MSNBC also didn't cover Beatty's death but I don't see them mentioned here. The tragic Martin story is a national story based in Florida involving someone who lived in South Florida.
ReplyDeleteI have a feeling that if they weren't covering it, you would be complaining about that, too.
"CNN, Fox, MSNBC also didn't cover Beatty's death but I don't see them mentioned here." How do you know CNN, Fox and MSNBC didn't cover the Beatty story? The Beatty story did receive coverage overseas and on cable channels.
DeleteBut I guess you don't read so well. My complaint with the Herald is that they find it difficult to cover local stories adequately. Perhaps they should master that before they go running off to Sanford. And perhaps you should learn to read better.
As for your point that Martin is someone who lived in South Florida...well, so did Michael Beatty.
My complaint isn't that the Herald is covering it. I'm just questioning the amount of resources and space they are devoting to it.
Agree 100% with you Bill.
ReplyDeleteSadly the truth…very exploitative.
Blacks don’t seem to mind when blacks kill blacks.
But when it’s a white, even if sadly justified, it’s blown out of proportion.
So sad.
What are you talking about? There are peace rallies in black neighborhoods all the time that condemn black on black violence. The uncle al peace in the hood yearly event for example. Just because they're not important to you or you're not aware of them doesn't mean they don't happen.
Delete"blacks don't seem to mind when blacks kill blacks." Yeah tell that to the family members and friends of Michael Beatty.
ReplyDeleteJerk-off
Bill:
ReplyDeleteDon't you agree that there are some weird parallels between the Trayvon/Zimmerman story and Tom Wolfe's novel (not the unwatchable movie) "Bonfire of the Vanities?" While Zimmerman is hardly a "Master of the Universe," it looks like the medie frenzy in this case is approaching public burning level.
Clay K.
Maybe it's what happened after the killing that set this one apart: the way Sanford police handled the case, especially in light of that department's recent history.
ReplyDeleteCheck the new evidence. Sanford Police did a FINE and thorough investigation, after all!
DeleteIt's the old "Man bites dog" story. Blacks killing blacks is an everyday occurance. Blacks robbing and killing whites happens all the time. Whites killing blacks is rare. Yet whenever and wherever it occurs it's always 1955 Alabama and white people are all evil racists.
ReplyDeleteThe media and others appears to be racists based on the fact they convicted a man only because he was white
Delete