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It took CNN hours to provide live coverage, but they were better than MSNBC and Fox News who stuck with replays of taped shows and did not provide live coverage of a horrific mass shooting at an African-American church in Charleston, SC.
A white gunman described as being in his early 20s entered the Emanuel AME Church at around 9 PM ET, shooting nine people. According to The Post and Courier in Charleston, “Nine people were shot, some fatally, inside one of Charleston’s oldest and most well known black churches tonight. A bomb threat complicated the investigation and prompted police to ask nearby residents to evacuate.”
This should be a huge story that deserves breaking news coverage on every network. A mass shooting with the gunman still at large is a matter of public safety. Instead of going live, the cable network did nothing for hours. Finally, just before midnight Eastern, CNN went live. MSNBC and Fox News both stuck with replays of their 9 PM hour programming.
The message is clear. When African-Americans riot, they are deserving of breaking news coverage. When African-Americans are victims of what is likely to be one of the worst mass shooting in a place of worship in our nation’s history, there is no urgency to get the story on the air.
Republicans claim that America is a country that has moved past racism, but the decisions made the cable networks are reinforcing one of the worst racial stereotypes imaginable. The lack of live coverage leads one to question whether the cable networks care about innocent African-Americans who could be the victims of a hate crime.
The message that MSNBC and Fox News are sending is that black lives matter, but not enough to interrupt reruns of Megyn Kelly and Rachel Maddow.
UPDATE: The “Lean Forward” network finally decided to go live nearly 4 hours after the shooting.
UPDATE 2: Fox News goes live just before 1 AM ET.
Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.
Awards and Professional Memberships
Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association
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