Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has some advice for the media and she’s sharing it with them in a series of tweets:
If I were a journalist/worked in news, this is what I’d do rn:
1. Interview actual experts on white supremacy & give them space (more than 2mins or lines) to educate the public on WS, what to look for. Often.
2. Not frame white supremacy&racism as a “conflict” or “debate”… /1
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) August 5, 2019
OK, seems pretty reasonable so far. What’s next?
The reason there’s a tendency to “both sides” every issue on TV is bc the medium is incentivized for conflict, so ppl will put the least qualified people on TV to create it (see: climate deniers). Don’t ask “is [blank] racist?” Have experts explain what to do about racism.
/2
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) August 5, 2019
AOC doesn’t really have a problem with networks putting “the least qualified people on TV.” If she did, she’d turn down every invitation to appear on the news. No, her real beef is with networks giving a voice to someone who doesn’t advance her particular agenda. She doesn’t want tot hear both sides of an argument when she thinks hers is the only one worth hearing. Stephen Gutowski, for example, is a firearms expert who’s most definitely qualified to discuss guns. But she’d pitch a fit if MSNBC invited him on to discuss gun control instead of someone like Shannon Watts.
But we do agree with her on this:
3. Don’t let Neo-Nazis on TV,to buff their image or couch racism in “reasonable”-seeming terms/appearance!Sounds obvious but it just happened a few wks ago. Supremacists are experts at manipulation,incl manipulating smart people. You will open a box you don’t know how to contain.
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) August 5, 2019
She’s got a point there. Too bad CNN already lent Richard Spencer credibility when they chose to give him a platform on their network.
4. Also, have editors of color! Diversity not only in lowest ranks, but highest. News is behind on huge stories & coverage is suffering bc of lack of diversity. I’ve been invited to editor roundtables just utterly shocked that no poc were present. In 2019. That’s a big problem.
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) August 5, 2019
Not sure what that would do to solve the problem, but whatever.
Meanwhile, AOC — like many others in the media — seems to be focused much more intently on the El Paso shooting because of the white supremacist motivations. What advice would she have for journalists when it comes to covering far leftist violence like the Dayton shooting?
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