Basketball player Kobe Bryant, 41, was among nine to die in a California helicopter crash amid foggy conditions. The copter burst into flames in the Calabasas hills, near Los Angeles, on January 26.
In addition to reporting the death of one of basketball’s most beloved and premier players, controversies have sprung up surrounding the reporting itself.
Probably the best known is that of MSNBC anchor Alison Morris, who was reporting on Bryant’s death on the day of its occurrence when she uttered a word that sounded like “nigger”.
She said, “Seems like he was just the kind of athlete, the kind of star that was perfectly cast on the Los Angeles N****rs … Lakers.”
Listen to Morris and see if you can determine what she meant to say. https://www.worldstarhiphop.com/videos/video.php?v=wshhF6JCrLY8MowoO5aC
Morris used Twitter to explain that she had begun to say the [New York] Knicks then corrected mid-word to the [Los Angeles] Lakers:
“Earlier today, while reporting on the tragic news of Kobe Bryant’s passing, I unfortunately stuttered on air, combining the names of the Knicks and the Lakers to say ‘Nakers.’ Please know I did not & would NEVER use a racist term. I apologize for the confusion this caused.”
There is a movement afoot, of course, to fire Morris, including a petition on Change.org.
“On January 26, 2020 the world lost basketball legend & icon, Kobe Bryant. Alison Morris of MSNBC News think its ok to use a racial slur at this period of time!” the petition says. As of press time, 112,860 have signed.
The petition continued: “What she said was not Accident but on PURPOSE because she paused before she said ‘Los Angeles Ni*****’ We need to join together to get her fired because Enough is Enough & we will not tolerate this Racist BS anymore.”
Was it a Freudian slip? Or an unfortunate confusion of two teams’ names? Bryant played for the Lakers. Morris works in New York where the Knicks play. Morris is reportedly not a fan of basketball.
Did Alison Morris decide to sabotage her career?
In response to Morris’ tweet, MSNBC anchor Yasmin Vossoughian tweeted “Completely agree. You don’t know till you are in the heat of breaking news. Mistakes happen, we are human. I too know and work with @AlisonMorrisNOW and she is a kind, hard working professional.”
Ali Velshi, the co-host of MSNBC’s Velshi & Ruhle, also defended Morris. “I know & work daily with @AlisonMorrisNOW. Like all my friends & colleagues, she doesn’t have racial epithets in her vocabulary. In the heat of breaking, emotional news, we fast talkers stumble & combine words, or reach for the wrong word & correct mid-stream. @NBCNewsNow@MSNBC.”
Wanda Sykes thinks it was a slip of the tongue.
Comedian Wanda Sykes tweeted “When I first heard it, I told my friend, ‘I bet she was about to say Knicks, then tried to cover and said Nakers, but failed miserably. That ‘Knic-‘ was out there. I believe her. #Nakers.” Audiences have different interpretations of what Morris said. Hopefully, she did not use degrading language to describe a legendary basketball team.”
It remains to be seen whether Morris will be fired or suspended. In a world where the benefit of the doubt is given to honest people, Morris would not be punished.
The corporate structure of MSNBC, however, will likely decide based on economics. The station may wait to see if the controversy dies down, if it impacts ratings, or whether Morris becomes a distraction on air.
Few intelligent persons believe Morris meant to say it intentionally, consciously, and not know it would immediately destroy her career.
What is left to determine, if it can be determined, is whether innate racism bubbled up from her subconscious, or if she is simply telling the truth and melded “Knicks” and “Lakers” to utter a sound in the English language that is utterly taboo and requires, if deliberately uttered, immediate punishment.
If I were advising Morris, I might suggest she pen her view of racism and how it might, one day – if centuries in the future – be eradicated, and what that world would look like without necessarily miscegenation, so that the end of racism is internal not external.
She might also gather testimony of friends and supporters, particularly minorities, who would support her claim that she is not a closet racist.
Has anyone come forward with a shred of evidence of Morris’ past racism? In a left-leaning newsroom, racism, if it exists, would have to be well hidden. It seems unfair that a woman’s career should be upended by one innocent slip of the tongue.
Unless evidence of previous racism is uncovered, I vote that her life be spared.
LeBron James Instead of Kobe Bryant – They Don’t Look Alike!
In addition to the Morris controversy, the BBC earned some criticism. In reporting Bryant’s death, the BBC used footage of LeBron James on its program BBC News on Ten.
Fans complained virulently, saying the two NBA players do not look alike and faulted the BBC because even if the news editors thought they did look alike, the name “James” was printed on the back of his jersey.
A hue and cry for the firing of the “numerous racist employees [who] made this [news report]” was immediate.
“Who cut this????? BBC news using footage of Lebron James instead of Kobe Bryant in their obit!!!!! IT EVEN SAYS JAMES ON HIS SHIRT” said one critic on social media.
BBC quickly apologized, saying the mistake was due to “human error.” A story on their website says producers used video of James surpassing Bryant on the NBA’s all-time scoring list, but “the voiceover did not explain why viewers were seeing James on screen at that stage, rather than Bryant.”
Anchor Reeta Chakrabarti also apologized, as did Paul Royall, editor of BBC News at Six and Ten.
Paul Royall@paulroyall
In tonight’s coverage of the death of Kobe Bryant on #BBCNewsTen we mistakenly used pictures of LeBron James in one section of the report. We apologise for this human error which fell below our usual standards on the programme.
Naturally it was upsetting to fans to simultaneously learn of Bryant’s death and see another player on screen. Despite the blunder, which at its worst construct hints of the notion that members of one race – to other races – all look the same – it does not appear anyone is going to be fired, since, by all accounts, this was, as BBC said, “human error.”
At the Washington Post, national political reporter Felicia Sonmez was placed on administrative leave after some controversial Tweets.
The Post is purportedly undertaking an investigation into whether her tweets violated the “newsroom’s social media policy.”
Sonmez began her Twitter imbroglio on Sunday by tweeting a link to an April 2016 Daily Beast story, whose headline reads: ‘Kobe Bryant’s Disturbing Rape Case: The DNA Evidence, the Accuser’s Story, and the Half-Confession.'”
Sonmez received intense criticism from Bryant fans. One can well imagine fans grieving over Bryant’s sudden demise did not want a reminder of the most controversial incident of his life, which occurred some 17 years ago.
Back in 2003, Eagle Colorado sheriff deputies arrested Bryant based on a complaint of sexual assault filed by a 19-year-old hotel employee at the The Lodge and Spa at Cordillera. The woman accused Bryant of raping her in his hotel room.
Bryant admitted to a sexual encounter but denied the assault allegation.
He said, “Although I truly believe this encounter between us was consensual, I recognize now that she did not and does not view this incident the same way I did. After months of reviewing discovery, listening to her attorney, and even her testimony in person, I now understand how she feels that she did not consent to this encounter.”
The felony case was dropped after Bryant’s accuser declined to testify. A civil suit was later filed against Bryant by the woman which was settled out of court and included Bryant publicly apologizing to his accuser, though admitting no guilt.
Was it more than indiscreet but morally, objectively wrong to mention a story about the alleged rape within hours of Bryant’s death?
Thousands wrote to and about Sonmez, prompting her to write a follow-up tweet saying, “To the 10,000 people (literally) who have commented and emailed me with abuse and death threats, please take a moment and read the story – which was written 3+ years ago, and not by me. Any public figure is worth remembering in their totality even if that public figure is beloved and that totality unsettling.”
As criticism mounted, Sonmez tweeted, “If your response to a news article is to resort to harassment and intimidation of journalists, you might want to consider that your behavior says more about you than the person you’re targeting.”
A defiant Sonmez took screenshots of her email inbox, which she shared on Twitter, displaying the full names of her threatening critics.
Tracy Grant, managing editor of the Post, told Business Insider that Sonmez was suspended and in a statement said, “The tweets displayed poor judgment that undermined the work of her colleagues.”
Again, corporate considerations supersede ethics, although it remains unclear if Sonmez was suspended because of her mention of the rape allegation or because she published the email addresses of those who threatened her.
I admire Sonmez’s defiance and personally hope she does not apologize. This falls under freedom of speech and standing your ground.
Yet I would add that Bryant was never convicted and in the eyes of the law and our standards of liberty he died innocent of any criminal wrongdoing.
Should it have been mentioned at the moment of his passing, as people were just learning of his death?
Hold The Presses?
The tabloid news website, TMZ, broke the story of Bryant’s death.
Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva criticized TMZ for reporting the story before the victim’s families had been notified.
During a press conference, Villanueva declined to confirm the names of the nine passengers until the coroner identified them.
“It would be extremely disrespectful to understand that your loved ones perished and you learned about it from TMZ,” Villanueva said. “That is just wholly inappropriate. So we’re not going to be going there.”
Undersheriff Tim Murakami said of TMZ “I am saddened that I was gathering facts as a media outlet reported the Kobe had passed. I understand getting the scoop but please allow us time to make personal notifications to their loved ones. It’s very cold to hear of the loss via media Breaks my heart.”
This is an excellent question: Should TMZ have waited until the sheriff informed them that the families had been notified?
If they had done so, chances are they would not have scooped the world on this huge story. They are in the highly competitive business of breaking news.
What would you have done?
