DUELING COLUMN: Journalists’ Outrage Over Trump “Kingsman” Meme Is Justified

Humberto Mendez Prince/Contributing Writer

As journalists, among other tasks, we’re faced with the responsibility to inform the nation about the controversy surrounding political entities.

That’s why, regardless of whether certain news outlets are from the left or the right, we must understand that covering sensitive topics about our president is our unwavering responsibility. 

This became clear when the New York Times reported on a YouTube parody video of President Donald Trump “killing” a variety of media outlets, journalists, political figures and activist groups. The video was set to the 2015 film “Kingsman: The Secret Service.”

Naturally, the over two-minute-long video sparked outrage among journalists and supporters from different groups across America.

To clarify, the current social climate our country is facing nowadays shouldn’t allow for this kind of video to be taken seriously. Instead, as citizens, we should condemn and avoid spreading them since they could foment extremist groups into committing violent acts against newspapers, political figures, and journalists.

The response the media had towards this video was justified. The combination of the president’s unsurprising indifference towards its existence and the gruesome scenes in which he not only “kills” various media outlets but, more importantly, “kills” important activist groups like Black Lives Matter and the feminist movement, triggered different media outlets to call for an explanation from Trump. 

The video just displays violence for the sake of being violent. One thing is that the creator decided to make a satirical meme in which Trump fake-kills a group of media outlets, which is in bad taste but not scandalous; another is including activist groups who have historically struggled with discrimination being fake-killed by the President.

These images, although fake, could prove traumatic for more delicate audiences since they portray mass shootings, a delicate topic that isn’t a joking matter. The video exploits that same topic, just another reason why the eventual response from the media was warranted.  

People could make the argument that its goal of it was to entertain audiences and that it’s “hypocritical” for news outlets to report on it. But when you have a major political figure whose known for not making wise decisions in office, and who deliberately doesn’t comment on the video, it’s the duty of the national media to report on it. 

More importantly, as it’s the president’s duty to clear the water on polemic issues, such as violent videos on the internet with his face on them, it’s also the duty of media outlets to inform the public about it. 

For journalists to report on this particular issue does not make them hypocrites; they’re just doing their job and should not be publicly shamed by doing what’s their responsibility.

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Featured photo from FIU Flickr.