Criminal Justice Organization and Management

Use correct APA format. Sources need to be in correct APA 6th edition format with web links included.

Needs to be 500-700 words in length

The role of the media is critical in a democracy, and the criminal justice system invariably intersects with the American media constantly and, at times, at cross-purposes. An astute criminal justice leader must understand the power of the media to shape events which, at times, provide a slant to the events that makes the job of the leader challenging and difficult. The Ferguson, MO incident involving the shooting death of Michael Brown by a police officer is a case in point. Many of the initial accounts that made the public upset and exacerbated the situation were later found to be untrue. For instance, it was found that Mr. Brown was not shot in his back, while running away from the officer, with his hands up in the air. A perceptive leader reaches out to the media and attempts to push his or her account of the event in the public sphere to display transparency as well as making a proactive push to influence the post-event debate.

Select two contrasting media accounts of the Michael Brown shooting. One of the articles must be critical of the police and of officer Darren Wilson and supportive of Michael Brown. The other article must be an article defending the police and officer Wilson and be critical of Michael Brown.

Assume you are the police chief of Ferguson.
Provide a summary of the article critical of the police.
Comment on how you will present your organization’s viewpoint to the media to counteract the critical image created by the media.

Compare your talking points with the article defending the police and officer Wilson.
Would you use the same or similar points as used in the article?
Why or why not?

Conversely, you can take the opposite position of an executive from a civil rights organization. As someone interested in police reform and distrusting of the police, provide a summary of the article defending the police.
What facts or counterarguments will you present during a press-briefing, criticizing the points in the article defending the police and the officer?