Why national media should aquire a holistic world view

By MONA OSMER

On Sunday of last week, a 28-year-old transgender female was beaten unconscious on the streets of Brooklyn, New York. However, the New York Daily News did not publish an article on the incident until the following Tuesday.

It was reported that after beating the woman, by kicking her as well as striking her with a Plexiglas board, the four men responsible for the attack proceeded to spit on her and voice homophobic epithets.

Paramedics had to rush the victim to Elmhurst Hospital, where doctors listed her in critical condition. Violence such as this unfortunately happens often. However, it is not highly publicized.

In a country that is moving forward in the area of LGBT equality, discussion of crimes such as these should be made known to the public.

It is horrendous that these acts are not more commonly known, for if they were it would raise awareness that there are too many hate crimes being ignored by society.

National media has its own personal agenda, and it is in certain circumstances, such as the ignorance of the horrific beating of a transgender woman, when I get fed up.

The FBI reported in 2012 that 48.3 percent of hate crimes are motivated by race, 19.6 are motivated by sexual orientation, 19 percent by religion and 11.5 percent by ethnicity.

Yet many of these crimes are missing from national media coverage.

CBS News writes that newly released data from the FBI shows that African Americans, Jewish, homosexual men and Hispanics were the groups most often the targets of hate crimes in 2012. In total, 7,164 people were victims of hate crimes last year, down about seven percent from 7,713 in 2011.

However, no individual accounts were reported. In fact upon research, no immediate instances arose.

Undoubtedly, victim protection is most important. However, the public should still be informed of the injustices that occur in the U.S. or anywhere else.

Informing the public raises awareness on issues; it demands them to look the at the problems our society faces and the injustices that still occur daily.

All over the world, countries are battling internal problems similar to this this, and although hate crimes in the U.S. have surfaced in media outlets, they do not cover the wide variety of circumstances that occur.

I find it imperative that the media get more involved in covering instances such as our country continues to move toward greater equality. Take, for instance, the many states in the U.S. that have been gaining ground in the legalization of same-sex marriage. Alongside this promotion of equal rights we must remain aware of the terrible injustices still occurring.

It is important to identify and thus combat the ignorance that is clearly apparent in society. For example, for the first time in years the U.S. prepared military forces for the riots held in Ferguson, Missouri, as reported by CNN on Oct. 6. Citizens were enraged that minorities were under represented in their local police force and had banded together to make their grievances known.

This is both the folly and strong point of American society.

However much peaceful protesting has been beneficial to the improvement of society, it is the sheer fact that protesting most occur to make issues heard that is concerning.