Image

8:56 PM / Saturday February 8, 2025

20 Dec 2014

CNN anchors under fire for police brutality ‘hands up’ support on air

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
December 20, 2014 Category: Entertainment Posted by:

As reported by the Huffington Post last week, four of CNN’s hosts are at the center of fiery criticism after boldly expressing their support of protests associated with the deaths of Michael Brown, an unarmed black teenager that was gun downed by a Ferguson, Missouri police officer, and Eric Garner, an unarmed black male that died after being put in a chokehold by a NYPD police officer.

During a Saturday afternoon broadcast, three of CNN’s hosts expressed solidarity with protesters after rolling footage of activists marching in the streets of New York and Washington D.C. Sally Kohms said, “We want you to know that our hearts are out there marching with them.” Mel Robbins and Margaret Hooper, joined their co-host’s support of the demonstrators by also raising their hands, demonstrating the “hands Up Don’t Shoot” gesture, which has now been made famous due to the many protests that have broken out around the country.

In addition, Sunny Hostin, another CNN host, held up a sheet of paper with the words “I Can’t Breathe” written on it, the now famous last words of Eric Garner before he died.

CNN tries to pride themselves in being a “straight news” source, different from their competitors: MSNBC and CNN, who are both known for their heavy political slants. While CNN has several shows that allow for opinions from commentators, for the most part, CNN mounts itself as being the place where news consumers can supposedly get “partial and balanced news.” Media watch dogs are calling the CNN’s hosts show of support for the protestors during a “straight news” segment as being irresponsible and inappropriate.

Likewise, the media watch dogs insist that consumers should be able to rely on news sources to provide them with unbiased news reports rather than sprinkling the opinions from the hosts in the news reports. However, there are a number of news media scholars that insist that there is no such thing as impartial and unbiased news reporting.

The Michael Brown and Eric Garner issues have introduced new questions that must be answered by today’s news outlets.

Should news professionals be able to weigh in and share their opinions on hot button issues during broadcasts?

Or should the news anchors and hosts leave it up to commentators to provide analysis and opinions on news stories?

There’s no doubt that this, as well as other hot button news stories, will definitely influence how news is packaged and delivered in the future.

Huffington Post contributed to this article

  • Facebook
  • Twitter

Leave a Comment

Recent News

Color Of Money

Campaign for Working Families and Food Bank for New York City announce partnership to expand free tax assistance across NYC

February 3, 2025

Share Tweet Email The goals are to improve access and equity, as well as to reduce poverty....

Seniors

How Type 2 inflammation contributes to asthma, COPD, and allergic conditions

February 3, 2025

Share Tweet Email BPT Do you live with persistent, moderate-to-severe asthma, COPD, allergies, eczema or hives? Inflammation...

Home and Garden

PHS Philadelphia Flower Show shares first glimpse of 2025’s ‘Gardens of Tomorrow’

January 20, 2025

Share Tweet Email The Pennsylvania Horticultural Society (PHS) hosted a press conference on January 16 at the...

Week In Review

Auschwitz survivors warn of rising hatred on the 80th anniversary of the death camp’s liberation

February 2, 2025

Share Tweet Email Canadian Holocaust survivor Miriam Ziegler holds up a photo of her (circled) as as...

Sports

The Rematch

January 27, 2025

Share Tweet Email The Philadelphia Eagles are headed to New Orleans for a rematch with the Kansas...

Health

Expert tips from a dietitian: Three keys to staying healthy on GLP-1s

February 3, 2025

Share Tweet Email BPT By Satya Jonnalagadda, PhD, MBA, RDN With obesity rates tripling over the past...

The Philadelphia Sunday Sun Staff