“Our . . . fundamental criticism is that the news media have failed to analyze and report adequately on racial problems in the United States and, as a related manner, to meet the Negro’s legitimate expectations in journalism.”
“By and large, news organizations have failed to communicate to both their black and white audiences a sense of the problems America faces and the sources of potential solutions.”
“The media report and write from the standpoint of the white man’s world. . . . Slights and indignities are part of the Negro’s daily life, and many of them come from what he now calls the ‘white press’—a press that repeatedly, if unconsciously, reflects the biases, the paternalism, the indifference of white America.”
“This may be understandable, but it is not excusable in an institution that has the mission to inform and educate the whole of our society.”
“A society that values and relies on a free press as intensely as ours is entitled to demand in return responsibility from the press and conscientious attention by the press to its own deficiencies.”
Although this statement was published in 1968, 20 years prior to the making of "Mississippi Burning", the movie still seems to reflect a bit of a bias in regards white privilege. It focuses much of the plot on the "white heroes" of the Civil Rights Movement, almost glorifying them, while making the African-Americans seem like the helpless underdogs.
The Society of Professional Journalists Code of Ethics states that all journalists should help enlighten the public of their surroundings by seeking the truth and providing a "fair and comprehensive account". The New York Times did just that. In many articles, they interviewed people to get the reality of what life in the South was like. They never exaggerated the details of the trial and told the case how it was, including details that actually happened during the Freedom Summer. They also had titles that were appropriate to the contents of the article. They wrote articles about civil rights, during a time that many people were not in favor the Civil Rights Movements. Overall, we believe that the Times did a good job covering the happening of the Freedom Summer.
