All Blog Posts from Public Eye

Let me say it one more time for the cheap seats.

Dear Presidential Candidates: You’re always on camera.

Last year we had a Senate candidate lose his momentum because of an insult he uttered. An insult that was recorded and uploaded online, of course.

Now we’ve got a presidential candidate hit a political speed bump because of – and get this – not something he said, but something that was said to him that he didn’t challenge, rebut or otherwise criticize.

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What’s the deal with CNN and its focus on nooses?

Allow me to ask the question a different way: Have they crossed the line from news coverage to network promotion?

Last night on CNN’s “Out in the Open” hosted by Rick Sanchez, he had a lively discussion/debate with an African-American comic who had worn a noose like a necktie as “a fashion accessory.” The segment began:

This is comedian Katt Williams. he wore a noose around his own neck on purpose, he turned it into a fashion accessory as he posed at the BET Hip-Hop awards a few weeks ago. Katt Williams is brave enough to join us to try and explain why he would do something like this.

So CNN found a comic who wore a noose “a few weeks ago” as the subject of a debate last night -- a debate rerun this morning on CNN. A little bit later, CNN aired a live discussion featuring two guests, with the caption “Noose Incidents: More Cases or More Coverage?”

This is a serious question, since copycat concerns should always be in the minds of journalists covering hate crimes and the like. But in keeping tabs on the other cable networks, I didn’t see any coverage of the Noose Crisis in America. (And a search on TVEyes showed no mention of the word “noose” today.) Which is fine, after all. It’s their prerogative and news judgment. But why the bump in CNN’s coverage? Why did they keep coming back to the topic?

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