Chris Cuomo says media didn’t flock to Baltimore

← Back to CNN Commentary homepage


In a lengthy post yesterday on Facebook, Chris Cuomo made the push for everyone to continue (basically) watching, because CNN is evidently pledging to continue its relentless coverage of Baltimore:

My point in this post is to point you to tomorrow. What media will be in Baltimore? How many of you will watch Baltimore as the main story? Will the Royal baby take over? Talk about the big fight? Turning back to whether Hillary will be too weighed down by questions about her character to be successful in a run for president? It is the faux righteous indignation I am pointing out. So many take to social media to opine and criticize media coverage. The media as exploiters, flocking to Baltimore to fan the flames of tragedy. First of all, the media didn’t really flock there. How many big names did you see in Baltimore? Sure all the outlets were there, but whom the outlet sends also sends a message. And it ain’t easy being in those situations. Trust me. You don’t do it lightly.

No, Chris is right. The media didn’t really flock there. According to Variety, Fox News had one anchor present, Bill Hemmer, and correspondents Doug McKelway, Leland Vittert, Rick Leventhal and Peter Doocy. MSNBC had Chris Hayes, Trymaine Lee, Joy Reid, Thomas Roberts, and Toure. CNN? Ha, well… Brooke Baldwin, Jason Carrol, Anderson Cooper, Carol Costello, Chris Cuomo, Joe Johns, Athena Jones, Don Lemon, Suzanne Malveaux, Miguel Marquez, Evan Perez, Brian Todd, and Ryan Young are all on the ground. And over the weekend, Michael Smerconish anchored his program from Baltimore, as well as Fredricka Whitfield, Victor Blackwell, and Poppy Harlow. So, while the media (Fox and MSNBC) didn’t necessarily flock there… by golly, CNN did. And then, Chris makes a tug at your heart-strings (and your TV remote):

I think you know the answers to most of these questions. The question is do you care? And if you were one of those who will choose a more interesting or less upsetting story to start your week tomorrow… Should you really blame the media or anyone else for what they do when it comes to the issues that you thought were so important just last week?

And, if you’re keeping track, no, Chris still hasn’t offered up a mea culpa for warning a protester to “be careful, because you know how [the police] are.”