The Jasper dragging death: Crisis communication and the community newspaper

Abstract

This essay examines approximately 1 1/2 years of opinion page content in The Jasper NewsBoy concerning the dragging death of James Byrd Jr. in June of 1998. The manner of Byrd's murder horrified much of the nation and galvanized public discussion about race relations. The NewsBoy's coverage was an important part of the community's response to the crisis, which ranged from prayer vigils to town hall meetings. This paper sketches a brief outline of the crisis as it unfolded to provide a context for the papers role, followed by an analysis of the NewsBoy's opinion section based on Fishman's methodology for examining crisis communication events. By combining elements of civic journalism and crisis communication, the newspaper helped the town stage a successful image restoration campaign.

Key words:

• Racism
• image restoration
• crisis communication
• civic journalism
• focusing event