AG Report 4.6.2023

The Real Victims

Norm McDonald had an insightful joke about how the press reacts to certain tragedies:

What terrifies me is if ISIS were to detonate a nuclear device and kill 50 million Americans. Imagine the backlash against peaceful Muslims?

As if to prove they can’t be parodied, many mainstream outlets had that exact response to the mass shooting in Tennessee last week. After a trans individual killed 3 children and 3 adults at a Christian elementary school, the press mostly glossed over the actual victims and even the ideology of the perpetrator. Instead, they decided the real victims were members of the trans community based on a hypothetical retaliation that hasn’t actually occurred.

Here are a few headlines: 

·       NBC News: Fear pervades Tennessee's trans community amid focus on Nashville shooter's gender identity

·       Washington Post: The right exploits Nashville shooting to escalate anti-trans rhetoric

·       Reuters: After school shooting, some trans Tennesseans face backlash 

·       The Guardian: ‘Desperate and bigoted’: US right uses latest shooting to malign trans people

The trans community isn’t responsible for the actions of one person, but they also aren’t the main victims and shouldn’t steal focus from families who’ve been devastated by this senseless tragedy. It’s also reckless for the press to baselessly signal to a community where depression, anxiety, and other mental health problems run exceedingly high that they’re being targeted.

Washington Post Comes Out Against Transparency

In 2017, The Washington Post adopted the slogan “Democracy Dies in Darkness.” The idea is that transparency — and the media institutions that help ensure it — is critical