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EDITORIAL
4
CHAMPION
March 10 - 16, 2016 • Page 6A
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CIRCULATION
| verification!
COUNCIL
It's more than
When no Black actors, actresses or
directors were nominated for any of the top
Oscars categories for the second consecu
tive year, it sparked outrage in the Black
community.
A majority of outrage was expressed
through social media. Some Black actors,
actresses and directors, such as Spike Lee
and Jada Pinkett-Smith, expressed their
disapproval through videos on social media
or through a series of Tweets.
Many people voiced their disdain for the
slight by The Academy through the popular
Twitter hashtag #OscarsSoWhite.
Lee and Pinkett-Smith said they were
boycotting the Oscars by not attending or
watching the live broadcast, and encour
aged Blacks and others to do so as well.
Before the Academy Awards aired on
Feb. 28, some pundits and social media
doubters said the “OscarsSoWhite” hash
tag and the request for a boycott would
not have much effect on the show’s rat
ings because 1) not many people watch
the Oscars anyway, and 2) the idea of one
hash tag stopping millions of people from
watching an awards show that has a Black
host, seemed implausible because “it’s just
Twitter.”
Show producers thought that having
comedian Chris Rock host the show, hav
ing other Black actors and actresses pres
ent awards, or the possibility of fan-favorite
Leonardo DiCaprio finally winning his first
Oscar (he did, by the way) would still result
7 just Twitter 7
in the same number of viewers who watch
the show every year.
Wrong.
The 2016 Academy Awards pulled in its
smallest audience in eight years, accord
ing to US ratings data. Nearly 34.3 million
Americans watched the award show—a
near record low.
Those who thought one little hash tag
on Twitter would not have a major impact
on a large institution such as The Academy
of Motion Picture, Arts and Sciences re
ceived a rude awaking.
Twitter is more than “just Twitter.” Face-
book is more than “just Facebook.” These
social media websites have become more
than just a place to post family pictures and
to update your followers on what you are
doing at the exact moment.
Twitter is now a place where media
outlets break news first. Twitter and Face-
book have become the major news source
for many people. Some social media users
would believe a fake story is real because
they saw it on Facebook or Twitter, so “it
must be true.”
Social media is a powerful resource,
and if someone or something angers
enough people that anger will be felt, and
could result in serious consequences.
Those who had doubts about social
media and its impact, may need to
ask The Academy how it feels about
#OscarsSoWhite now.