America’s number one network for tragic news is doing a terrible job of covering the devastating ongoing story in Ferguson, MO, according to Talib Kweli.
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The rapper/activist is in the St. Louis suburb, which has been embroiled in racial conflict and morphed into a police state since the shooting death of a black teenager named Michael Brown. Kweli spoke with CNN’s Don Lemon live from the town on Thursday, and the pair quickly became embroiled in an argument over the network’s coverage.
“I don’t think, especially with an organization like CNN, I don’t think the intention is to not be fair and balanced, but we live in a world that’s run by white supremacy, and the narrative and language of the oppressors has taken over.”
Specifically, Kweli objected to a CNN.com story that claimed that things were calm in Ferguson until protesters began throwing bottles; that narrative, he said, was very inaccurate.
“I felt it was important to control the narrative because the media has been doing a horrible job of making sure that the stories get out in the right way,” he added.
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The pair then got into an argument about the structure of a conversation, and then, a behind-the-scenes meeting. Ultimately, Lemon was able to defend the network’s coverage.
“I disagree with that especially with our coverage. I think that we’ve done really great coverage here,” Lemon countered. “And people in the community are actually coming up commending us on our coverage, saying that it’s balanced. We’ve been telling the stories of young black men and their interactions with police officers. I don’t think the entire media has been bad.”