Trayvon Martin Case Study

My desire to study journalism was impacted by the shooting of Trayvon Martin back in February 2012 in Sanford, Florida. This event was broadcast live on all news stations that struck the heart of many people, including mine who was witnessing while mourning the fatal death of the 17-year-old. The death of the young teen sparked worldwide controversies in which Martin did nothing wrong on the night of February 26, to get shot. The police officer, George Zimmerman who did the shooting was charged with 2nd-degree murder where the verdict was pronounced as not guilty.

After consecutive nights of hearing and listening to this tragic event, I felt like if enough action wasn’t being done to bring justice to Martin. I started to become interested

in this case where I re-watched the event multiple times online and on TV thinking to myself again and again “aren’t police officers meant to serve and protect?”. This was the recurring thought that provoked me for days until I finally concluded that if I was so concerned about this teen and what had happened to him, why don’t I try to get my voice out there and heard just like other people who share the same emotions and feeling like I do. After about a year, I heard about the Black Lives Matter activists’ movement that was formed to promote and defend the lives of black people against violence and racism. I watched them on the news protesting and visited their website where I began observing what’s it like not only as an activist but as a journalist constantly thinking out of curiosity and focusing on what’s important and motivated to get answers to my questions.

Overall, this event has changed the perspective of how I view the world. Journalism is a way of making people aware and informed of what’s happening around the world, and at the same time giving many people a voice that should be heard. It allows me to get outside of my comfort zone and discover a different part of me that whose voice amongst others, needs to be heard.