Social media drove ‘Jena Six’ into national spotlight

It took a massive movement within the blogosphere to grab the attention of mainstream press

It began as the big story that couldn’t.

A group of black students at a high school in Jena, La., asked school administrators if they could sit beneath a tree typically used only by white students. White students responded to the request by hanging nooses from the tree and were subsequently suspended.

Thus began a series of racially charged incidents in which the white students involved were charged with misdemeanors (or not charged at all), while the black students were charged with felonies.

Then came the breaking point: a group of six black students beat up a white student—who suffered only minor injuries—and were charged with attempted murder … as adults.

But the national media didn’t take notice. The type of story that many reporters and editors live to tell, essentially went unnoticed (save for the Chicago dailies, which gave regular updates on the story).