Committee Recommends: Week 6

Once again, this week we have compiled a selection of long reads, news stories, and other resources from across the web. We hope that – in part or in its entirety – this post will be useful and informative. 

The Media Society Committee <3. 

Long Reads 

Do the work: an anti-racist reading list

“What happens when white people, momentarily awoken from the comfortable slumber of white privilege by this moment of unignorable protest, go back to sleep?”

You’ve posted, reposted. Tweeted, retweeted. But now what? Time to reflect, to learn, to educate. Here are Layla Saad’s top picks for anti-racist reading. 

How silence can breed prejudice: A child development professor explains how and why to talk to kids about race

“But what happens when we silence children’s questions about race? Ironically, the result is not silent at all.”

Brigitte Vittrup, a child development professor, explains why we must raise children to be race-conscious, not colour-blind.

Remember, No One Is Coming to Save Us

“We will live with the knowledge that a hashtag is not a vaccine for white supremacy. We live with the knowledge that, still, no one is coming to save us.”

Roxane Gay discusses structural racism in light of George Floyd’s murder and COVID-19. 

George Floyd, racism, white privilege and the media

“…too often the coverage situates the victims of racism on one side of a battleground: a locus of instability, aggression, and fear.”

LSE’s Lee Edwards considers how the media coverage of George Floyd’s murder and the subsequent protests may, in fact, incite racism and nurture white privilege. 

When Feminism Is White Supremacy in Heels

“But even moments of explicit dehumanization to the black community haven’t been able to rally the majority of liberal white women to join us in our fight for racial justice.”

Rachel Cargle discusses why the “liberal white woman’s feminism” is inexorably tied up with systemic racism. She argues the movement needs a complete overhaul, not just the addition of the word ‘intersectional’, for it to be truly representative of all women.  

The 1619 Project

“On August of 1619, a ship appeared on this horizon, near Point Comfort, a coastal port in the English colony of Virginia. It carried more than 20 enslaved Africans, who were sold to the colonists. No aspect of the country that would be formed here has been untouched by the years of slavery that followed. On the 400th anniversary of this fateful moment, it is finally time to tell our story truthfully.”

Launched last year, the 1619 Project saw the New York Times publish an extensive selection of essays and articles interrogating structural racism in the United States.

In the News 

As you’ll read in Lee Edward’s article (above), media coverage has a huge impact on public perception of key issues. Think critically about what you’re reading to combat media bias (link to a Reuters Institute study on the importance of a diverse newsroom). 

Here are three news stories you might have missed.

‘This can’t be happening’: An oral history of 48 surreal, violent, biblical minutes in Washington

“When I saw the Bible, I thought maybe he would say a prayer…. But then I realised it was a photo op.” THE REV. ROBERT FISHER, rector of St. John’s

This account details the events pre and post Trump’s photoshoot with the Bible, told entirely in interview snippets from reporters, protestors, Trump’s staff, and the Reverend himself. This is perhaps the bleakest tale of Instagram vs Reality. 

US Law Enforcement Are Deliberately Targeting Journalists During George Floyd Protests

“…multiple instances of US law enforcement deliberately targeting journalists during the protests against the killing of George Floyd.” 

This harrowing article shows the gruesome cost of trying to maintain a free press in the supposed land of the free. C/W: images of blood/GBH.

US: Fueled by years of Trump’s demonization of the media, unprecedented violence breaks out against journalists covering protests

“So far at least 68 incidents have been documented of attacks by police and protesters alike against journalists covering the protests. They have been shot by rubber bullets and pepper balls, exposed to tear gas and pepper spray, beaten, threatened and intimidated and had their news vehicles vandalised, simply for doing their jobs.”

Reporters Without Borders document the mounting threats to press freedom in the USA. 

A Bit of Listening 

If you’ve buried yourself in Twitter and news apps these past few days, now might be the time to turn to a podcast. Here’s what we’ve found useful. 

The Daily: The New York Times

Check out these 30-minute podcasts from the past week, which cover protest, pain, police and the President. (heavy focus on the US) 

Seeing White

“Where did the notion of “whiteness” come from? What does it mean? What is whiteness for?”

Explore this 14-part podcast series which covers notions of whiteness, white-identity politics, racial inequality and more. 

That’s all for this week. If you have any thoughts on this, or would like to write for us, please email Emily at vice-president@oxfordunimediasoc.com.