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This study analyzed daily newspaper coverage of President Obama’s July 19, 2013 statement on the acquittal of George Zimmerman in the death of unarmed Florida teenager Trayvon Martin. The story was the most high-profile incident of 2013 where race was a major issue. The 25 front pages that made up the purposive sample represented a range of newspaper types including 13 metropolitan newspapers, seven community newspapers and five with the largest circulations in the nation. The analysis showed that the storyline most newspapers used in reporting on the statement by the nation’s first bi-racial president was one that made the connection between Obama and a 17-year-old African American boy from Florida who was gunned down as he wore a hoodie and carried a bag of Skittles. Fifteen of the 25 newspapers chose to use Obama’s words Trayvon Martin “Could Have Been Me” in their headline.

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In March 2018, National Geographic admitted for the first time in its 130-year history that “for decades our coverage was racist. To rise above our past, we must acknowledge it.” In acknowledging that past, it offered a special issue focused on race, which kicked off its yearlong series of reporting, "Diversity in America." This paper offers a textual analysis of two articles that appeared in the April 2018 edition. One article focused on the rising anxiety of White America, apparent in the debate over confederate statues. The second article features streets named for Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., an offering timed to coincide with the 50th anniversary of the civil right leader's assassination.