Semester Project Proposal: Evan LeBlanc

For my semester project I would like to examine the role the citizen plays when it comes to discussion and reporting of the news. More specifically, the issues I would like to focus on are the recent killings of African Americans males across the US. What the project will focus on is how through pictures and cell phone videos, these makers were able to capture these key momentous events. The role the citizen plays in journalism is an important one, and through the fact that technology has evolved so tremendously it has allowed a nation to rally around these important issues in its small cities. Through social media interaction media makers, we have been able to document this movement, and this form has proven critical in equipping a world audience with news in its purest form.
As for the actual project, I would like to make a video collage of these events along with criticisms on each of these occurrences. What I would like to examine is why they occurred, and how they could have been avoided. This is important as the lives of Eric Garner, Michael Brown, and Ezell Ford to name a few, didn’t have to be taken under unjust circumstances. The video will act as a voice shedding light on the political and social disparity African Americans especially men when faced with these situations. The video will be made public on YouTube, accrediting all of the original owners who shot the original footage. As stated before the intention is to shift the swaying audience to pick a side and take social action.

Michael Brown



Eric Garner