The image of Derek Chauvin’s knee pressing into George Floyd’s neck has been burned into this country’s psyche. ABC relentlessly used the raw photo of Chauvin staring into the camera while his knee crushed Floyd’s neck. Even on the trial’s final day, ABC’s Alex Perez included the graphic photo in his report.
“The prosecution’s closing message to the jury was clear,” Perez said. “‘Believe your own eyes. What you saw in the video of George Floyd’s final moments was murder, plain and simple.”
The jury saw Floyd’s murder; so did the American public. Repeatedly showing the unedited photo Chauvin’s knee on Floyd’s neck wasn’t just graphic or traumatic; it was also desensitizing. Newsrooms may have changed policies about graphic images for the trial, but ramifications can already be seen in post-trial police brutality coverage.
The trial coverage may have opened a Pandora’s box. Will future reports habitually feature traumatic images that are more alienating than compelling?
ABC relied the most on the uncensored photo in their trial coverage. CBS used the uncensored photo only twice, while NBC opted to cover Floyd’s face with its chyron. In her April 8 segment, only CBS’ Jamie Yuccas included the both agonizing slow-motion video of Floyd’s final moments along with Dr. Martin Tobin’s testimony.
“You can see his eyes, that he’s conscious,” Tobin said. “Then, you can see he isn’t.”
It’s not that this testimony should be excluded from the trial coverage. After the trial, juror
Brandon Mitchell said that Tobin’s testimony “clinched” the trial and was “extremely important” for the guilty verdict. Yet Tobin’s influential testimony could be covered without replaying the video of the moment Floyd dies.
The emphasis on graphic footage transcends just the Chauvin trial. It directly affects how networks cover police shootings. Between the trial’s March 29 start and its April 20 conclusion, according to the New York Times, at least 64 people died at the hands of the police. More than half of these deaths involved members of Latino or Black communities.
As these three networks balanced covering the Chauvin trial with new reports of police shootings, the use of traumatic images only continued. All three used body camera footage when reporting on the deaths of Ma’Khia Bryant and Daunte Wright, as well as the non-fatal shooting of Isaiah Brown.
This intense reliance on traumatic imagery was especially clear in Brown’s coverage. NBC and ABC featured extreme, emotional audio from the shooting. It’s jarring to hear the multiple gunshots, particularly knowing that Brown survived the shooting. It’s different from the shock of seeing Floyd’s death, but still demonstrates networks are willing to show graphic and traumatic images of Black suffering.
It’s important to balance sensitivity with accurate reporting, especially covering police violence.
However, cumulative use of these images and videos possibly traumatize audiences — perhaps
producing an even worse outcome: not feeling anything at all.
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