Why Isn’t This Story Everywhere?
Credited to: Talibdin “TD” El-Amin, Publisher
Kyle Bassinga’s death deserves ongoing national scrutiny. It’s getting far less than that.
The 21-year-old Georgia State University student was reported missing last week before his body was found hanging from a tree Wednesday evening in a Cobb County park. Police have since said there was “nothing to indicate this was suspicious” and that the investigation is ongoing until finalized autopsy results are returned. But they also provided few details about how Bassinga ended up dead hanging from a tree.
Public frustration has boiled over for reasons that extend beyond Thursday’s press conference.
America has a history. Black bodies hanging from trees is a sight that invokes centuries of racial terror. The Equal Justice Initiative found more than 4,400 racially motivated lynch murders of Black people from 1877 to 1950. These murders were used as a tool to maintain white supremacy, often committed publicly and almost never prosecuted. This history may feel like the past, but for many it lives on in memory.
No one is saying that history repeats itself with Kyle Bassinga’s death. But what we do know about his death will determine how the public responds — and what information they demand to get answers.
Information about this case does still remain murky. One question, though, is independent of the investigation: Why hasn’t there been more coverage?
Why wasn’t this case covered nationally during the time Bassinga was missing? Why has coverage been so muted in the wake of the discovery? Studies from the University of Michigan, University of South Carolina, and University of Colorado Denver found that missing white people get exponentially more national coverage than missing people of color. That may or may not be the case here. But the belief that some stories are deemed more newsworthy than others only perpetuates that breakdown in trust.
If little coverage is the case, people will create it themselves.
Law enforcement should be as transparent as possible. But media outlets can be transparent too. Coverage during high-profile incidents should feel consistent. Reporting means people are paying attention and care about finding answers. Silence means the issue doesn’t affect you.
Law enforcement can prove they have nothing to hide by being open about the evidence they’ve found, or lack thereof. They should release timelines, photos, and forensic information. If news outlets don’t believe this story is nationally covered, they can say as much. But the public won’t have faith if they’re left in the dark.
News coverage and investigation practices aren’t the only issues here. Fairness in how they’re conducted is, too.
We’re not asking for answers we can’t get.
We’re asking whether the same standards are being used for everyone.
