{"id":4481,"date":"2025-05-07T12:00:20","date_gmt":"2025-05-07T16:00:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sites.ohio.edu\/library-archives-blog\/?p=4481"},"modified":"2025-05-12T10:26:45","modified_gmt":"2025-05-12T14:26:45","slug":"jour-4130-southern-justice-revisited","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.ohio.edu\/library-archives-blog\/2025\/05\/07\/jour-4130-southern-justice-revisited\/","title":{"rendered":"Southern Justice Revisited: Lynn Johnson and Racial Violence in the Media"},"content":{"rendered":"\r\n

By Dylan Thatcher, Journalism \u201825 and Tyler Lacey, Media Arts Production \u201825 for JOUR 4310 Gender, Race, and Class in Journalism and Mass Media with Victoria LaPoe, Spring 2025<\/em>.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

CONTENT WARNING: Racial violence.<\/strong><\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

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During the spring 2025 semester, the staff of the Mahn Center for Archives and Special Collections worked intensively with Victoria La Poe\u2019s JOUR 4130 class, Gender, Race, and Class in Journalism and Mass Media. The students explored, selected, and researched materials from the collections, then worked in small groups to prepare presentations. The students had the option to then expand their research into a blog post like this one for their final project.<\/p>\r\n<\/blockquote>\r\n<\/figure>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Photographer <\/span>Lynn Johnson<\/a> was part of Life<\/em> magazine\u2019s team of reporters covering John William King<\/span>\u2019s trial for the lynching of James Byrd, Jr. <\/span>in 1999. \u201cSouthern Jus<\/span>tice\u201d was the <\/span>subsequent<\/span> story that came from the trial, but it was never published. We held an interview<\/span> with<\/span> Lynn Johnson<\/span> to gain insight into the circumstances of the article\u2019s shelving. <\/span>All <\/span>quotes originate from<\/span> Lynn Johnson <\/span>in discussion with the authors<\/span> via telephone <\/span>in<\/span> April 2025<\/span>.<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

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Photo of the unpublished \u201cSouthern Justice\u201d article written by Claudia Glenn Dowling and photographed by Lynn Johnson. Lynn Johnson Collection<\/a>, Ohio University Libraries. Photo by Tyler Lacey.<\/figcaption>\r\n<\/figure>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

James Byrd, Jr. was walking home in Jasper, Texas<\/a> on June 7, 1998, and was offered a ride from three white men. These men drove Byrd to country backroads and beat him before tying him to the back of a pickup truck, dragging him for three miles on Huff Creek Road<\/a>, killing him, according to \u201cAll the Brother Wanted Was a Ride: Lynching and Police Powers in Texas<\/a>\u201d by Larvester Gaither. The three assailants left Byrd\u2019s remains along the road and outside an African American Church, beginning an investigation into his death. Local authorities arrested Lawrence Brewer, Shawn Berry and ringleader John William King<\/a>, three white supremacists, in relation to Byrd\u2019s murder, according to \u201cRace\/Ethnicity: Race and the Academy<\/a>\u201d by C.J. Shlund-Vials. King<\/a>\u2019s trial began in January 1999.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Life<\/em> magazine sent a team of reporters, including Ohio University alumna and photographer Lynn Johnson to cover the trial in Jasper, Texas. The subsequent story and its photos, titled \u201cSouthern Justice,\u201d were powerful testaments of the hardship in Jasper, Texas. The reporters framed<\/a>, or focused, \u201cSouthern Justice\u201d around the people found in the wake of a gut-wrenching hate crime, making it remarkably relevant to everyday Americans.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

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Black circles drawn on the road in Jasper, Texas indicate where James Byrd Jr.\u2019s remains were<\/a> discovered, 1999<\/a>. Lynn Johnson Collection<\/a>, Ohio University Libraries.<\/figcaption>\r\n<\/figure>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Johnson found reporting on the trial to be difficult. \u201cWe were walking that road with those black circles and spending time with people in the African American community who were trying to help us understand. It was extremely emotional and disturbing,\u201d says Johnson. The effort made by these reporters was crucial in avoiding misrepresentation<\/a> within the story and photos.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

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\u201cThat kind of brutality is a message to everyone in that particular group. The fact that parts of his body were left along the road to the Black church was intentional. Just like the violence against people of color and immigrants today, it is meant to destroy the spirit and the will and the courage of that entire group. The thing to remember is that we are all in that group. We are all part of that group. We are all responsible for each other, and so there is no other, because eventually you will be the other.\u201d<\/strong> – Lynn Johnson<\/p>\r\n<\/blockquote>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Besides gaining access to the community of Jasper and the legal teams working on the trial, authorities granted Johnson and the Life<\/em> magazine team access to the assailants, according to Johnson. In particular, Johnson reflected on the opportunity to photograph John William King himself. Johnson says, \u201cThat would never happen today.\u201d<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

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Photo of Kylie Greeney, her baby Blayne William King, and her father-in-law Ronald King 1999<\/a>. Lynn Johnson Collection<\/a>, Ohio University Libraries.<\/figcaption>\r\n<\/figure>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

The bravery that Johnson and her counterparts showed in facing the hard truths of Jasper, Texas, and thus the country as whole, resulted in a poignant story that unapologetically reported on the malice and prejudice that exists in the U.S. In this, \u201cSouthern Justice\u201d avoids the trappings of parachute journalism<\/a>, in which journalists travel to unfamiliar locations, often for short-term coverage of significant events such as natural disasters or armed conflicts, as defined by Elizabeth Mohn<\/a>.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

While Life <\/em>magazine was preparing \u201cSouthern Justice\u201d for publication, the Columbine, Colorado<\/a> school shooting<\/a> occurred. On the morning of April 20th<\/sup>, 1999, two students gunned down and killed 16 of their fellow classmates. The Columbine shooting rapidly became a national news story, resonating<\/a> with families across the country. Questions of gun violence and school safety became a worldwide conversation, according to \u201cFrame-changing in the media coverage of a school shooting: The rise of Columbine as a national concern<\/a>\u201d by Glenn W. Muschert. The Columbine school shooting is still one of the most prolific mass shootings in U.S. history. Life<\/em> magazine made the decision to pull \u201cSouthern Justice\u201d from publication in favor of publishing more coverage of the Columbine shooting, according to Johnson.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

When Life<\/em> magazine decided to pull \u201cSouthern Justice,\u201d the public did not notice as the Columbine Shooting dominated headlines. The decision to pull \u201cSouthern Justice\u201d in favor of the Columbine shooting represents organizational constraints<\/a> that Life<\/em> faced in having to cover the breaking news story that was Columbine, according to \u201cFrom Breaking News to the Traditional News Cycle: A Qualitative Analysis of How Journalists Craft Resonance Through Storytelling<\/a>\u201d by Victoria Bemker LaPoe and Amy Reynolds. In major publications like Life<\/em> where two landmark and culturally significant events must be decided between, perceived bias<\/a> must be considered.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

During the interview, Johnson said that she felt fear and financial concerns informed Life\u2019s<\/em> decision to pull the story due to the uncomfortable nature of the story\u2019s subject matter. Johnson perceived bias in Life\u2019s<\/em> decision, viewing the story\u2019s shelving as an act of discrimination. It is unknown what the publication\u2019s specific rationale was as Johnson and other reporters were not present. In Johnson\u2019s eyes, the story of Byrd\u2019s lynching and the Columbine shooting both deal with community violence<\/a>, and both should have been published. Ultimately, Johnson left Life<\/em> magazine following the cancellation of the story and came to Ohio University.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Advancing the conversation with Lynn Johnson, it appears that Life<\/em>\u2019s perceived hesitancy to cover racial violence can be traced to cognitive dissonance<\/a> within the news industry and how it interacts with media ethics<\/a>. Cognitive dissonance describes the feeling of two or more conflicting ideas that contradict each other and create discomfort, according to Psychology Today<\/em>.<\/a> It is a journalist’s duty to seek the truth and report it, according to the SPJ code of ethics<\/a>.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

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Photo of a test copy of the unpublished \u201cSouthern Justice\u201d article.\u00a0 Lynn Johnson Collection<\/a>, Ohio University Libraries. Photo by Dylan Thatcher.<\/figcaption>\r\n<\/figure>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

While it is a journalist\u2019s duty to <\/span>seek<\/span> the <\/span><\/span>truth<\/span><\/span><\/a> and report it, there are issues with this. Truth <\/span>has been<\/span> philosophically <\/span>interpreted in<\/span> many ways<\/span> for thousands of years.<\/span> This discrepancy <\/span>can\u00a0<\/span>afford<\/span> the media<\/span> freedom<\/span> in deciding which truth to report, according to <\/span>\u201c<\/span><\/span>The Concept of Truth in Media Ethics<\/span><\/span><\/a>\u201d by Lay Nwe. <\/span>When truth is consider<\/span>ed <\/span>in the scope of race-related coverage in the media<\/span>, “<\/span><\/span>The Whites of Their Eyes: Racist Ideologies and the Media<\/span><\/span><\/a>” by Stuart Hall supports the notion that uncomfortable conversations will be avoided.<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

\u201cSouthern Justice\u201d going unpublished in 1999 displayed publishers\u2019 hesitance to cover race-related issues. Has the mass media of today improved in consistently reporting minority groups\u2019 truth in race-related issues? Further research must be done in this area.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Johnson concluded our interview by offering advice to up and coming reporters on keeping journalistic integrity. Johnson believes that journalists are only as good as their reputation and that good journalists must find outlets for their work that will honor the truth and the people in the story.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

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\u201cIt takes a lot of courage to face one’s prejudice and to understand that we all have prejudice. So, a story that reflects how far we must grow, that’s a brave act on the part of a publisher.\u201d<\/strong> – Lynn Johnson<\/p>\r\n<\/blockquote>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

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Sources<\/h2>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

\u200cArguedas, Amy, et al. News for the Powerful and Privileged: How Misrepresentation and Underrepresentation of Disadvantaged Communities Undermine Their Trust in News<\/em>.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Carpenter, Serena, et al. \u201cThe Measurement of Journalistic Role Enactments.\u201d Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly<\/em>, vol. 93, no. 3, 10 July 2016, pp. 587\u2013608, https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1177\/1077699015607335<\/a>.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

\u201cCity of Jasper, Texas.\u201d Jaspertx.org<\/em>, 2023, www.jaspertx.org\/<\/a>. Accessed 17 Apr. 2025.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

\u201cCONTENTdm.\u201d Ohio.edu<\/em>, 2023, media.library.ohio.edu\/digital\/search\/searchterm\/hate%20kills<\/a>. Accessed 11 Apr. 2025.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

D\u2019Angelo, Paul. \u201cD\u2019Angelo, P. (2019). Framing Theory and Journalism. In T. P. Vos & F. Hanusch (Eds.), the International…\u201d ResearchGate<\/em>, unknown, 27 June 2019, www.researchgate.net\/profile\/Paul-Dangelo\/publication\/334067570_D<\/a>.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Encyclopedia Britannica. \u201cColumbine High School Shootings | History & Facts.\u201d Encyclopedia Britannica<\/em>, 27 Feb. 2019, www.britannica.com\/event\/Columbine-High-School-shootings<\/a>.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

\u200cEveland, William P., and Dhavan V. Shah. \u201cThe Impact of Individual and Interpersonal Factors on Perceived News Media Bias.\u201d Political Psychology<\/em>, vol. 24, no. 1, Mar. 2003, pp. 101\u2013117, https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1111\/0162-895x.00318<\/a>.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Gaither, Larvester. \u201cAll the Brother Wanted Was a Ride: Lynching and Police Powers in Texas.\u201d Palgrave Macmillan US EBooks<\/em>, 1 Jan. 2000, pp. 191\u2013204, https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1007\/978-1-137-10929-3_16<\/a>. Accessed 17 Apr. 2025.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

\u200cGraf, Heike. \u201c1. Introduction.\u201d Open Book Publishers<\/em>, 1 July 2016, pp. 1\u201320, https:\/\/doi.org\/10.11647\/obp.0096.01<\/a>. Accessed 24 Oct. 2024.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

\u200cHall, Stuart. The Whites of Their Eyes<\/em>. 1990.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Harmon-Jones, Eddie, and Judson Mills. \u201cAn Introduction to Cognitive Dissonance Theory and an Overview of Current Perspectives on the Theory.\u201d Psycnet.apa.org<\/em>, 2019, psycnet.apa.org\/record\/2019-11198-001<\/a>.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

\u201cHome – Columbine High School.\u201d Jeffcopublicschools.org<\/em>, 19 Nov. 2024, columbine.jeffcopublicschools.org\/<\/a>.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

\u200cJipguep, Marie-Claude, and Kathy Sanders-Phillips. \u201cThe Context of Violence for Children of Color: Violence in the Community and in the Media.\u201d The Journal of Negro Education<\/em>, vol. 72, no. 4, 2003, p. 379, https:\/\/doi.org\/10.2307\/3211190<\/a>.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

\u200cLaPoe, Victoria Bemker, and Amy Reynolds. \u201cFrom Breaking News to the Traditional News Cycle.\u201d Electronic News<\/em>, vol. 7, no. 1, Mar. 2013, pp. 3\u201321, https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1177\/1931243113484311<\/a>. Accessed 4 Dec. 2019.<\/p>\r\n

Lynn Johnson, personal communication, April 2025.<\/p>\r\n

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Muschert, Glenn W. \u201cFrame-Changing in the Media Coverage of a School Shooting: The Rise of Columbine as a National Concern.\u201d The Social Science Journal<\/em>, vol. 46, no. 1, Mar. 2009, pp. 164\u2013170, https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1016\/j.soscij.2008.12.014<\/a>. Accessed 8 Nov. 2019.<\/p>\r\n

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Nwe, Lay. \u201cThe Concept of Truth in Media Ethics.\u201d Meral.edu.mm<\/em>, meral.edu.mm\/records\/928?community=um<\/a>.<\/p>\r\n

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\u200cSchlund-Vials, Cathy J. \u201cRace\/Ethnicity: Race and the Academy.\u201d Palgrave Macmillan US EBooks<\/em>, 1 Jan. 2015, pp. 165\u2013173, https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1057\/9781137428899_19<\/a>. Accessed 17 Apr. 2025.<\/p>\r\n

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\u200cSociety of Professional Journalists. \u201cSPJ\u2019s Code of Ethics.\u201d Society of Professional Journalists<\/em>, 6 Sept. 2014, www.spj.org\/spj-code-of-ethics\/<\/a>.<\/p>\r\n

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\u200c\u201cTexas Department of Criminal Justice.\u201d Archive.org<\/em>, Texas. Dept. of Criminal Justice., 2025, web.archive.org\/web\/20110611200414\/www.tdcj.state.tx.us\/stat\/kingjohn.htm<\/a>. Accessed 17 Apr. 2025.<\/p>\r\n

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Tilak, Geetali. \u201cTHE STUDY and IMPORTANCE of MEDIA ETHICS.\u201d ResearchGate<\/em>, Jan. 2020, www.researchgate.net\/publication\/349685937_THE_STUDY_AND_IMPORTANCE_OF_MEDIA_ETHICS<\/a>.<\/p>\r\n

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\u200c\u201cWashingtonpost.com: Jasper, Texas Killing.\u201d Washingtonpost.com<\/em>, 2025, www.washingtonpost.com\/wp-srv\/national\/longterm\/jasper\/trial021699.htm<\/a>. Accessed 17 Apr. 2025.<\/p>\r\n

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By Dylan Thatcher, Journalism \u201825 and Tyler Lacey, Media Arts Production \u201825 for JOUR 4310 Gender, Race, and Class in Journalism and Mass Media with Victoria LaPoe, Spring 2025. CONTENT WARNING: Racial violence.   During the spring 2025 semester, the staff of the Mahn Center for Archives and Special Collections worked intensively with Victoria La […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":4680,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[179,22],"tags":[215,214,24,142,17],"class_list":["post-4481","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-class-project","category-documentary-photography-archive","tag-jour-4130","tag-journalism","tag-lynn-johnson","tag-photographs","tag-student-project"],"modified_by":"Laura Smith","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.ohio.edu\/library-archives-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4481","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.ohio.edu\/library-archives-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.ohio.edu\/library-archives-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.ohio.edu\/library-archives-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.ohio.edu\/library-archives-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4481"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/sites.ohio.edu\/library-archives-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4481\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4682,"href":"https:\/\/sites.ohio.edu\/library-archives-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4481\/revisions\/4682"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.ohio.edu\/library-archives-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4680"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.ohio.edu\/library-archives-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4481"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.ohio.edu\/library-archives-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4481"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.ohio.edu\/library-archives-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4481"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}