KIRA DAVIS: The Problem Isn’t Bubba Wallace, or a Noose… the Problem Is the Media.

Some may ask, “If a story like this hits the mainstream, shouldn’t it be covered immediately? After all, it’s relevant considering current events.” I most certainly am not suggesting a story like this be ignored in the name of peace. What I am suggesting is that a story like this needs to be reported. Not opined, not instantaneously broken down into breathless monologues on slumping cable news channels, not turned into Instagram soundbites set to maudlin, bleak music. Reported. Like news. Because that’s what it is until there’s enough information for it to be something bigger.

If you think that’s an impossible task, consider your local news. They have reporters, entertainment reporters, a weather reporter, and typically what is called an “opinion desk.” They actually make a specific space for opinion. Journalism is what you see on the 5 o’clock news. Straight reporting from the scene of an incident, witness interviews, details, and information. In fact, if you pay attention you’ll notice that often when an anchor tries to get a street reporter to editorialize what is happening around them, they will go to great lengths to avoid descriptions that could feel personally motivated.

Your local news station and publications are the last bastion of real journalism.

Sad.