May 30, 2021

Media: Would The Tulsa Massacre Have Happened if TV News or Social Media Had Existed?

     News coverage of what was happening in Tulsa a century ago today consisted of newspaper coverage. The white owned Tulsa Tribune and the black owned Tulsa World.

     The best coverage I could find about what was reported 100 years ago is in a story in The Oklahoman:

"More than what was said, was what was left out," said assistant professor Rosemary Avance, of Oklahoma State University's School of Media and Strategic Communications. "What was consciously not covered, what pages that might’ve been removed from the archives, and how the media documented history as it unfolded are why 100 years later we're still seeking answers."

     There was no TV News in 1921...and only a handful of radio stations were operating across the country. The local Tulsa print media covered the story... but someone removed the story from the newspapers when they were saved on microfilm.

     Had TV News existed in 1921, what impact could coverage have had on Tulsa? 

     Imagine for a moment that film of smoldering Greenwood had been shown on national TV the next morning, or even live as it happened. And even further, if social media & cell phones had existed and photos of what was happening showed up on phones across the country...

 


     Or would that have inflamed the situation even more?

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