Media And Civil Rights Movement Essay

The media is a robust topic for conversation in present day American society and rightfully so. Historically, the media has played an enormous role when it comes to exposing injustice and shaping public opinion. This was in full effect during the Civil Rights Era of the 1960’s. Before the rise of modern media, most Civil Rights protests were local and fairly small. However with the rise of television and national news, brutal racist acts inflicted upon African Americans came into the consciousness of many Americans thus helping the Civil Rights movement gain more supporters and increase the pace for the fight for equality.
Media helped portray the true brutality behind positions in power trying to stop protests. The coverage of demonstrations

The media, the mainstream white press and the more specialized black press have played a very important role in the African American struggle for freedom and equality. During the abolitionist movement, abolitionist newspapers and articles in the mainstream press helped to build hatred towards slavery by exposing readers to its inhumanity.Both mainstream white press and black press played crucial parts in the Civil rights successes. Media portrayed how inhuman slavery was with many pictures and videos. This would help build a larger opposition toward slavery, bringing more people into the Civil Rights cause. Grassroots movements contributed heavily to the creation of civil rights organizations and the addition of members, however without the help of television the Voting Rights Act of 1964 would have never been passed. There were many movements that helped create civil right organizations, and the media was able to spread the organizations messages through the south. These messages would support activists' plans allowing a variety of acts to be passed. With this the movement was able to quicken at a rapid pace . Movements and support from other organizations helped the Civil Rights movement advance at a steady pace, with the help of media in addition it quickened this pace allowing Acts to become implemented

The momentum of the fight for civil rights most likely would have not stayed if it wasn't for local and national television broadcasts. New York time and other media interviewed the company and the company states they were averaging only 22 cents a mile, statistics like these and the images of empty buses cause many Southern citizens to begin to question if segregation really benefited the society. The civil rights movement spread at a rapid pace however without the help of media in television this pace most likely would have not stayed for very long. With the help of media images and statistics were able to spread quickly and on a world wide level. The images and statistics were implemented into the citizens mind making them think of inequality as truly beneficial. Shaping their minds allows the movement to gain more supporters to push to success . Civil rights organizers were very aware of the powers of television. They realized with the access to millions of people across the nation, their protest could turn from local to national. Television was through millions of homes in America. This would help Civil Rights organizers to spread their ideas and story quickly to get them out on a global level. Civil Right organizers acted upon the tool of television quickly. This usage later became the heart of Civil Rights campaigning. Civil Rights leaders used