This week on the Visu.News podcast Aaron Cynic and I speak with journalist Kit O’Connell about the media’s use of language around police violence and shootings. The favored phrases of ‘unbiased’ news outlets around these incidents are often in a passive tone – not wanting to lay blame on anyone in law enforcement – the same doesn’t go for the victims of police violence of course – as they are often described as suspects.
Kit wrote an excellent and concise piece on the media’s use of the term “Officer-Involved shooting” that asks the question – how was the officer involved? Check out his article here: Officer-Involved Shootings: How Was The Officer Involved? Other recommended reading: -FAIR: Copspeak: 7 Ways Journalists Use Police Jargon to Obscure the Truth-Chicago Reader: How Chicago’s ‘Fraternal Order of Propaganda’ shapes the story of fatal police shootings
Let’s get into it. This is Zach D Roberts and I thank you for listening – You can support this podcast at Patreon.com/ZDRoberts and Patreon.com/AaronCynic – we’re now on Podbean and (should be) available on all the other places you can find podcasts.
