Cross posted to the MRC's NewsBusters blog
On Tuesday's New Day show, CNN hosts John Berman and Alisyn Camerota took the time to lament the case of an eight-year-old African American boy who was so afraid of being shot by police, that his mother found an officer to reassure her son that he does not need to be afraid.
The pair displayed no self-awareness of their profession's role in frightening African Americans by over covering examples of criminal suspects being killed by police, usually after resisting arrest.
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Additionally, the same show -- as well as the other networks -- were true to form in ignoring a controversial case of a white teenager with autism who was shot several times by police over the weekend in Salt Lake City.
The case -- which cannot be used to fuel the liberal media's narrative that questionable police violence is a racial issue -- has so far been ignored by all the networks even while online outlets like the Washington Post, USA Today, CNN.com, CBSNews.com, and the New York Times have taken notice.
Nearing the end of Tuesday's New Day show, co-host Berman set up the show's regular "The Good Stuff" segment:
An eight-year-old in South Carolina told his mother that he was afraid of the police, and ended up forming an unexpected friendship with a deputy. Ashton Williamson says her son Gavin told her while they were in the car that he was worried about getting pulled over.
The show then played a clip of eight-year-old Gavin Williamson declaring that "I felt kind of scared and nervous. I was afraid," before a clip of his mother, Ashton Williamson, recalling: "He said, 'I don't want to get stopped because I'm scared I'm going to get shot.'"
Berman then recalled that Gavin's mother approached a police officer by the name of Kerry Shelton, who had a talk with her son and won him over. After the segment concluded, the two CNN hosts reacted:
JOHN BERMAN: That's nice to see, their interaction.
ALISYN CAMEROTA: Wow, though, I mean, that -- what a story. I mean, it just captures also what little kids are thinking about right now in this … (inaudible)
BERMAN: I actually agree. I think that's the big part of this story where you have young children afraid -- afraid of getting shot.
On the same day that they lamented the unnecessary fears some children feel toward police officers, they continued to exhibit some of the same recurring problems in how they cover issue sof police violence. Over the weekend, 13-year-old Linden Cameron was shot by police after his mother called authorities for help take him to the hospital to deal with an episode of mental illness.
But, as of Tuesday evening, there has been no broadcast or cable network news coverage of the Cameron story, presumably because the autistic 13-year-old is white. All three broadcast network evening news casts did find time to run an update on the death of Daniel Prude, informing viewers that the Rochester police chief announced Tuesday that he will resign over the matter.
Tuesday's episode of New Day was sponsored by Zales. Their contact information is linked.
Below is a transcript of the relevant portion of the Tuesday, September 8, New Day on CNN:
8:45 a.m. Eastern
JOHN BERMAN: Time now for "The Good Stuff." An eight-year-old in South Carolina told his mother that he was afraid of the police, and ended up forming an unexpected friendship with a deputy. Ashton Williamson says her son Gavin told her while they were in the car that he was worried about getting pulled over.
GAVIN WILLIAMSON, EIGHT-YEAR-OLD: I felt kind of scared and nervous. I was afraid.
ASHTON WILLIAMSON, MOTHER OF GAVIN: He said, "I don't want to get stopped because I'm scared I'm going to get shot."
BERMAN: Ashton knew she had to change this scare, so she found Deputy Kerry Shelton and told him the story. Deputy Shelton immediately stopped what he was doing to have a conversation with Gavin. Shelton says that's when their friendship started. Gavin now says Deputy Shelton has taught him about bravery and says, when he wants to grow up, he wants to be the same kind of officer as Deputy Shelton. That's nice to see, their interaction.
ALISYN CAMEROTA: Wow, though, I mean, that -- what a story. I mean, it just captures also what little kids are thinking about right now in this … (inaudible)
BERMAN: I actually agree. I think that's the big part of this story where you have young children afraid -- afraid of getting shot.