WATN, Local 24, had an interesting way of framing news about Cyntoia Brown’s commuted life sentence.
Brown, the teenage sex trafficking victim who killed a john when she was 16, was granted executive clemency Monday, January 7th.
Here’s WATN’s original tweet on the story:
Local 24 quietly deleted the tweet Tuesday, after it started receiving negative attention. The account has made no official mention of the deletion, nor has anybody accounted for the unfortunate framing of a tragic and complicated story.
Commissioner Tami Sawyer cuts to the heart of things:
There are so many community concerns about Memphis media’s shaping of narratives about black Americans. This is an example of why. Yes you deleted it but did you address how/why this tone deaf tweet happened? Did you address your viewers?
— Commissioner Tami Sawyer (@tamisawyer) January 9, 2019
Local 24 Quietly Deletes Controversial Tweet
Over the past week, MLK50 founder Wendi Thomas has been taking local broadcast stations to task for the huge role they play in linking African-Americans and criminality. She’s been particularly vocal about the number of black faces linked to crime that show up in local social media feeds whether the news is local or not.
What we REALLY need to leave in 2018: Local outlets posting sensational out-of-town crime stories that are of no value to Memphis viewers. It's irresponsible journalism/advertising for the NRA/justification for tough-on-crime laws that don't make anyone safer. Do better.
— Wendi C. Thomas (@wendi_c_thomas) January 2, 2019
Local 24 Quietly Deletes Controversial Tweet (2)
Local TV news outlets are literally f’ing with our brains. It is irresponsible journalism and indefensible. And @WMCActionNews5 @FOX13Memphis @3onyourside could stop if they wanted to. Or if viewers/readers insisted. pic.twitter.com/xKDjyXdtWN
— Wendi C. Thomas (@wendi_c_thomas) January 3, 2019
Local 24 Quietly Deletes Controversial Tweet (3)
If you want to know just how disproportionately crime is reported in the Memphis market, the Memphis Flyer does an occasional survey.
This isn’t a condition unique to Memphis and since, at a national scale, local TV news stations reach more viewers than all the top cable stations combined, it’s fair to say that regional broadcasters across America play a huge role in shaping urban narratives related to race and crime. Local 24’s tweet is just the latest example, and an especially egregious one.
By deleting the tweet, someone has acknowledged its inappropriateness or, at least, the potential for controversy. But deletions like this require some accompanying public statement. For example, when WMC distanced itself from a deleted tweet reading: “Nashville is still trash,” a subsequent tweet explained the deleted post didn’t represent the station’s “values or views.”
Whether there’s an accounting or not, here’s something to think about. Negligent and incendiary headlines and the over-association of black and brown faces with violent crime isn’t new, and neither is criticism pointing it out. The people responsible for organizing and distributing the news in 2019 know exactly what they are doing. They do it anyway.
