Protect Black Zebra. Protect independent journalism in Sacramento. Now more than ever
Editor’s note: This story is part an ongoing series of journalism produced as part a collaboration between The Sacramento Bee, Sol Collective and other community organizations called the “Community to Newsroom Pipeline.” To learn more or to contribute, email us at voices@sacbee.com.
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There was a time when the media was considered one of the most trustworthy entities to obtain information from, whether you wanted stories from around the world, across the country, or right in your own backyard. I don’t know when that time was – it was before I was born – but I’ve heard good things.
In 2020, however, when asked about the general trustworthiness of mainstream media, public opinion seems to rank it in a murky middle ground. It’s more trusted than, say, the White House or big pharma, but less trusted than the education system, organized religion or many corporations.
Which is why more and more people have been seeking out independent media to satiate their need for news. Independent media like Black Zebra Productions, a duo who have been live streaming coverage of the George Floyd protests in Sacramento for the last month.
Black Zebra has a willingness to get directly into the heart of the protests. Whether there was tear gas flying or police advancing, or whether it was a heartfelt speech that brought people to tears. They showed the full, raw, uncut truth of events as they transpired, without cutting away from the moments that might make certain people (cough cough police cough cough) look bad.
They don’t have a side that they lean for or against, they just turn the cameras on and keep them rolling. Over the last few weeks of coverage, the duo has managed to capture the eyes and ears of hundreds of thousands of people throughout Sacramento and across the country because of their willingness to show uncut truth. At one point their reach was hitting into the millions.
You know, a corporation everyone trusts over mainstream media.
Without warning or reasoning, Black Zebra’s page was wiped from the record, and with it hours of footage, including footage of officers kneeling on a protester during one of the most recent actions, footage of officers attempting to illegally detain members of the press, images of the people who were not connected to the protest that began vandalizing property.
These are all things the mainstream media often didn’t capture with their cameras. Most news stations and mainstream outlets show up early, stick around for the first hour and then leave once their quota of sound bites and video clips has been fulfilled. Or they come at night in hopes of catching something incendiary that they can spin on the 10 o’clock news. Very rarely do they stick around the whole time, and even rarer still do they show the full gravity of the truth on their stations, or sites. But Black Zebra does.
Value the truth
So why is that important?
For years you’ve heard that journalists are meant to give an unbiased, objective report of the facts. That we leave our biases or feelings out in order to expose nothing but the facts, and we leave it up to the reader to decide.
Here’s the thing.
That’s not always true. It’s nearly impossible for anyone – including journalists – to leave their biases out of what they do.
The sooner we stop pretending that we can, the sooner we can move forward and present the stories as what they are, and not what the typical media narrative would want it to be. For decades journalists have acted as if their personal values have nothing to do with their reporting. While a journalist’s personal values might not be what leads to the stories we write – the personal values of those in charge might have everything to do with the type of stories we are able to tell in the first place. It might have everything to do with the type of narrative utilized when telling the stories that we actually do tell.
Here’s an example. If you were to Google “George Floyd Sacramento Protests” in the early days of the demonstrations, these are the headlines that came up:
“Second day of George Floyd protests in Sacramento brings looting, broken windows and a fire.” - CBS 13 News.
“Sacramento George Floyd protests turn destructive.” and “National Guard arrives in response to George Floyd protests turning violent - ABC 10 News
“11 charged with looting, other crimes after George Floyd protests in Sacramento.” - Sacramento Bee.
Yes. I’m calling out the paper I write for as well. Our journalists are no different, our editors no more above it, our media entity no less guilty. Which is why so many Gen X and Millennial readers now turn to the internet to get their news. A study by the Pew Research Center in 2015 showed that 63% of millennials got their news from social media, along with 52% of Gen X’ers and 38% of Baby Boomers.
Between Facebook and Twitter, the two social media giants became some of the most trusted sources for independent media and up to date news coverage. Which is why the removal of an independent media site like Black Zebra Productions from Facebook is so disconcerting, as it silenced and censored anything that goes against the narrative Facebook is choosing to present. According to the removal from Facebook, Black Zebra Productions were told:
“Our policies prohibit posting fraudulent or misleading content or content that otherwise violates the law.”
So what content could Facebook be considering fraudulent or misleading?
Was it the video that Black Zebra captured of an officer kneeling on a peaceful protester for over two minutes with no reasoning?
Was it the video of multiple protesters attempting to stop the looting from occurring, yelling at those who were breaking windows “This isn’t what we are about!”
Perhaps it was the multiple hours of footage that Black Zebra captured? Hours of us praying to our ancestors. Hours of us marching in baking sun screaming the names of those we lost, without incident. Hours of protesters dancing in the park to funk music blasting through speakers, or building altars of flowers and candles. Hours of Black and Brown unity. Hours of allies and accomplices. Hours of love in a time of terrible loss.
Oh you haven’t heard about any of that? Interesting.
The media narrative
Who knows what it was that fit the narrative of “fraudulent or misleading content” – but what we do know is that in the midst of a worldwide revolution, there are people who are attempting to keep independent journalists from presenting another side of the story. The ones who embrace their personal values and refuse to create media that doesn’t show those values. The ones who speak for the community because they are a part of the community.
The underlying narrative of the mainstream media is often to illustrate the differences between us as a society. It’s to show us that “this group is bad” or “this group commits more crime” or “this group has less money, therefore, they are worth less.”
You know what? Screw the narrative.
Screw. The. Narrative.
Now is the time to be critical. Now is the time to value the truth. It’s a time to not blindly trust information fed to you by the five global corporations that own a vast majority of the world’s media. That’s right, five corporations have control over most of the information you see. And do you think the people who control those corporations truly care about the 38 million Americans living in poverty? About those of us who worry about how we’ll pay for our next meal, our next rent payment, our next doctor’s bill?
Five corporate bosses who have no idea what it is like to live like us are the ones controlling the stories we tell, the stories we listen to, and the stories we believe.
Five.
I say all that, to say this.
If those five corporations happen to think your life doesn’t matter, they can change the way the world views you with the scribble of a pen.
And by the way.
Those five men?
They don’t think your life matters.
They just think your money does.
So put your money in the right places:
Support Black Zebra as they attempt to set up an independent website for their content. Read other stories in our Community Voices series.
Keep your eyes open for independent journalists who refuse to conform to the truth they are being told to tell, and support them.
And watch out for the ones unwilling to admit their personal values affect their reporting. Because those are the ones who are listening to those five men, and not their hearts. Which can be more dangerous than anyone can realize.
“The media’s the most powerful entity on earth. They have the power to make the innocent guilty and to make the guilty innocent, and that’s power. Because they control the minds of the masses.” -- Malcolm X.
This story was originally published June 26, 2020 at 3:18 PM.