This terrible event sparked nationwide outrage and soon became the most talked about topic in the U.S. as protests were sweeping through the entire country, not just Minneapolis. People have held protests in all 50 states and D.C., including in hundreds of smaller, lesser-known towns and cities that have not been in the spotlight during previous nationwide protests.
The Washington Post’s analyst states that the George Floyd protests generated more media coverage than any other protest in the last 50 years. There are some patterns in this coverage and our intention is to point them out.
Firstly, we have to focus on the image of George Floyd that the media painted.
It depicted George Floyd as a perfect family man, who happened to have a history of bad decisions in his life i.e. drugs and robbery (however, this past is almost never talked about or is mentioned in passing). Mainstream media rarely focused on the wrongdoings of Floyd, making him a modern martyr of some sort (the curb where he died is now literally a sacred place with candles, flowers and portraits resembling icons of saints). Things that would nowadays make someone deemed controversial and put them in risk of being canceled seem to be conveniently ignored when talking about George Floyd.
Sources:
https://news.sky.com/story/who-was-george-floyd-the-gentle-giant-who-loved-his-hugs-11997206
https://amp.cnn.com/cnn/2021/03/14/us/minneapolis-george-floyd-square-battleground-soh/index.html
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