Mainstream Media and the "Jena Six": Fueling the Fire for profit, or protecting free, but unpopular, speech?

The particulars of the case in a small Louisiana town of unequal justice for criminal acts is not my focus of this post. What I want to concentrate on today is the media feeding frenzy that has ensued from this case.

I want to look at the case this way; If six young men accosted one young man, and physically assaulted him, the authorities would be encouraged to apprehend the accused and process them into our justice system. Unfortunately, the intent of our laws and justice system is sometimes interpreted in ways to suit a selected class in a community. Sometimes, as in certain drunk driving cases in Lehigh County, that class is the wealthy, where guilty people run over victims, but because of their "Investments' in said community, are given a slap on the wrist.
(House arrest?) While common poor citizens are publicly excoriated for their failings and given a maximum term. (Which they deserve for their crime).

The problem is that when it comes to meting out punishments for identical crimes, that special class, be it a class of wealth, and still, in some communities, one of race, has set itself apart from the rest of us, and that in turn incites resentment. That is what begets marches and protests, like the ones in the Town of Jena this week.

This is where the media jumps in and in doing their duty of reporting the inequities in American society, further drives that wedge into the affected communities. For some reason, they can't do the reporting without inciting the story further. Why? Money, Money, Money, Money!
The major news networks need good ratings to make money, sensationalism drives viewership, so reporting in a manner that further inflames smoldering tensions drives their story, which drives their ratings and drives their profits. They find the most controversial, divisive figures they can to comment on the situation, further exploiting a communities tragic social failing for financial gain. CNN and Faux News are experts at this.

Which brings me to our local newspaper, The Allentown Morning Call. On Saturday, September 22nd they ran a letter from an Lower Macungie Resident that espoused a return to a 18th century America where people of color and all non-whites "Knew their place". The writer also proclaimed America as a "White Christian Nation". I always thought that the founding Fathers saw America as a "God fearing Nation" and resisted any state sanctioned religion, fearing a power like that of the Anglican church of England. American History 101: The colonies were founded primarily by religious refugees. The Puritans didn't come to Plymouth for the beachfront scenery, they came to escape persecution. The same as the Quakers in Pennsylvania, or the Catholics in Maryland, and so on.

I would like to praise the Morning Call for running that letter. As much as I abhor that point of view, people in this community need to realize that there are fellow citizens in the Lehigh Valley who espouse racism as an acceptable policy. I have my issues with the Morning Call and their Editorial board, but this is one call they got right.
They are part of the media feeding on this story, and putting it on the front page shows they realize that the sensationalistic nature of it is good for their own bottom line. But in the end they did the right thing, even if possibly for all the wrong reasons.

So now that I've written all the above, I want to give you a parting thought to chew on. Two weeks ago Kyle Quinn, a Kutztown University student, was beaten to death by three young thugs.
There was a beautiful prayer service, and the expected hot air from elected officials about all they would do to stem future campus violence. Two weeks out, the story has dropped off the media radar like a rock in the ocean. Do you think that would have happened had the assailants been Hispanic or Black?
Or would the Morning Call be running daily stories about potential racial unrest, stirring up fear in the lily white suburbs? Now there is some food for thought.