A journalist friend posted this on Twitter this weekend: “Today’s mass shooting was in Allen, TX.”
That’s what it has come to. Another day, another mass shooting in America. It really does seem like a daily occurrence.
The locations change from schools to malls to places of worship to parades to concerts to grocery stores to offices to nightclubs. And then all goes around and around again.
What doesn’t change is the eerily familiar weapons — semi-automatic rifles capable of massive destruction in mere moments — followed by “thoughts and prayers” and then the debate about guns, which actually has long been decided.
The horrific details of this particular mass shooting — eight people killed at an outlet mall in a Dallas suburb — will soon be replaced by another mass shooting in another gathering place in another town in America.
There is no consensus on what constitutes a mass shooting, but the Gun Violence Archive reports there have already been more than 190 this year.
According to a database maintained by The Associated Press, USA Today and Northeastern University, there have been 22 mass killings involving guns that have caused at least 115 deaths.
That’s quite a disparity in numbers, and yet, let’s just consider the latter database. That’s 22 mass shootings in 127 days — one every 5.7 days. That’s basically one a week.
It gets monotonous and depressing, but it’s important to read about these shootings to keep apathy from setting in. So read these stories from this weekend’s awful news:
- The Washington Post’s Jack Douglas, Devlin Barrett, Marisa Iati, Bryan Pietsch, Brittany Shammas and Maham Javaid with “Investigators examine Texas gunman’s white supremacist views after 8 killed.”
- The New York Times’ Joshua Needelman and Adam Goldman with “What We Know About the Allen, Texas, Mall Shooting.”
- The Dallas Morning News’ Jamie Landers and Lana Ferguson with “What we know about the victims of the Allen Premium Outlets shooting.”
- Some disturbing images of the shooting could be seen on Twitter. The New York Times’ Benjamin Mullin with “Twitter Criticized for Allowing Texas Shooting Images to Spread.”
Powerful words
Steven Spainhouer was a witness to the Allen mall shooting. His powerful comments to MSNBC’s Jonathan Capehart did not include “thoughts and prayers.”
Spainhouer said, “I worked around people that have mental health issues. I don’t know what the gunman’s problem was. I don’t know his motive. But it wasn’t mental health that killed these people. It was an automatic rifle with bullets. That’s what killed them. I’m a gun lover. I have guns. I’m a former police officer. I’m a former Army officer. These M4s, AR-15s — they’ve got to get off the streets or this is going to keep happening. And we’ve got to stop that at some point. It could be you. It could be your family member. I never imagined that it would be me. I never imagined that it would happen in my community. But it did and we’ve got to stop this type of carnage.”
Tucker’s next act?
Tucker Carlson, shown here in 2022. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig, File)
The headline on Mike Allen’s story for Axios will make you double-take: “Tucker Carlson ready to torch Fox News.”
Bryan Freedman, the big-time Hollywood lawyer Carlson hired for his contract dispute with Fox News, told Allen, “The idea that anyone is going to silence Tucker and prevent him from speaking to his audience is beyond preposterous.”
That seems to indicate that Carlson has a noncompete clause in his contract (pretty standard for TV) that will keep him from working for a Fox News competitor for a while — maybe several months, or longer. When he was fired, Carlson’s contract ran until January 2025.
Apparently, Carlson is already getting impatient. According to a source of Allen — described as “a close Carlson friend” — Carlson first intended to leave Fox quietly. But now the friend tells Allen, “We’re going from peacetime to Defcon 1. His team is preparing for war. He wants his freedom.”
Another unnamed source close to Carlson told Allen that Carlson “knows where a lot of bodies are buried, and is ready to start drawing a map.”
There is some reporting that suggests conservative media outlets such as Newsmax and Rumble are willing to dump a bunch of money on Carlson’s porch to get him. Carlson also could go a different route and do something more like direct-to-consumer, such as on YouTube. Would that be considered a competitor of Fox News?
Allen also reports that Carlson and Twitter owner Elon Musk have had a conversation about working together, but didn’t discuss specifics.
However, many are still wondering if there is more to come out about why Carlson was fired from Fox News. Last week, The New York Times broke a story that showed redacted communications from Carlson in the Dominion Voting Systems’ lawsuit against Fox. In it, Carlson spoke about Trump supporters beating up what Carlson called “an Antifa kid” and said, “Jumping a guy like that is dishonorable obviously. It’s not how white men fight.”
Carlson’s influence
New York Times opinion columnist David French has a new piece out: “Tucker Carlson’s Dark and Malign Influence Over the Christian Right.”
French concludes his column by writing, “Is there a single public figure not named Donald Trump who had more real-world influence over evangelical political engagement than Carlson? But that influence was dark and malign. For the sake of contestable political issues, he abandoned necessary moral virtues, and he taught his followers to do the same. His daily example demonstrated that honesty and grace — indispensable qualities in every sphere of life — have no place in the politics of the new religious right, and the new religious right thus repeats ancient sins. Christian political engagement must include Christian moral virtue, or it will tear this nation apart.”
Filling in
Fox News continues to rotate guest hosts in Carlson’s old 8 p.m. slot. Next up: Kayleigh McEnany, the former Trump press secretary who now is a co-host on the Fox News daily show, “Outnumbered.”
McEnany goes into the week fresh off a controversy. On Friday’s “Outnumbered,” McEnany was talking about a protest in New York City over a Black man who was killed on a New York City subway when a white man placed him in a chokehold. “Outnumbered” showed a video of protesters beating a drum and repeating that they wanted justice. After the video, McEnany said, “Justice or burn it down — well at least they have rhythm.” She then smiled while off-camera colleagues laughed.
HuffPost’s Marco Margaritoff wrote, “The Thursday night protest appeared to include people of different races, but the protesters in the foreground of the footage were Black. One of them is seen leading the crowd with a megaphone in a call-and-response chant demanding justice for the 30-year-old Neely. McEnany thus appeared to make a stereotypical crack about Black people having rhythm.”
McEnany, through a Fox News spokesperson, told The Los Angeles Times’ Stephen Battaglio that she didn’t see the video, but only heard it in her earpiece, and that she was unaware of the racial makeup of the protesters.
Broadcaster suspended indefinitely for slur
Glen Kuiper, a baseball TV announcer on Oakland A’s games, has been suspended for what sounded like a racial slur during last Friday’s broadcast. Kuiper was trying to say he went to the Negro League Baseball Hall of Fame in Kansas City, but it sounded as if he used another word instead of “negro.” Here’s the clip and you can hear it yourself.
Later in the broadcast, Kuiper said, “I said something that didn’t come out quite the way I wanted it to. I just wanted to apologize if it sounded different than I meant it to be said. … I just wanted to apologize for that.”
NBC Sports California, which broadcasts the A’s games, has suspended Kuiper indefinitely while investigating. In a statement put out by NBC Sports California, Kuiper said, “I could not be more sorry and horrified by what I said. I hope you will accept my sincerest apologies.”
Bob Kendrick, the president of the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum, issued a statement over the weekend. He said, “I’m aware of the unfortunate slur made by Glen Kuiper. I welcomed Glen to the NLBM yesterday and know he was genuinely excited to be here. The word is painful and has no place in our society. And while I don’t pretend to know Glen’s heart I do know that my heart is one of forgiveness. I hope all of you will find it in yourselves to do the same!”
Meanwhile, the headline on Mike Freeman’s column for USA Today: “No, it’s not time to forgive Oakland A’s broadcaster for use of racial slur. Not yet.” I encourage you to read it.
Pulitzer Day
Today is a big day in journalism. The Pulitzer Prizes, recognizing the very best in journalism, will be awarded. It also will have awards for Books, Drama and Music. The announcement will be made via livestream at 3 p.m. Eastern. As always, Poynter.org will be your go-to source for the latest Pulitzer news.
In case you missed it last week, Roy Harris wrote his annual preview for Poynter.
In another piece for Poynter, it’s Kathleen McElroy — a Pulitzer juror in 2023, and a professor and the Frank A. Bennack Jr. Chair in Journalism at the University of Texas at Austin — with “The Pulitzer goes to … Black introspection.”
Media tidbits
- For The Guardian, David Smith with “As 2024 elections near, US media grapples with how to cover Trump.”
- How are restaurants rated for the Michelin Guide? Here’s a behind-the-scenes look from “CBS Sunday Morning” correspondent Kelefa Sanneh.
- The New York Times’ Richard Sandomir with “Katie Cotton, Who Helped Raise Apple’s Profile, Dies at 57.”
- “60 Minutes” continues to deliver powerful journalism on a weekly basis. Scott Pelley with “From stakeouts to warrants: How federal investigators found more than 100 children cleaning slaughterhouses.”
Hot type
- The most engrossing story from the weekend: For The New York Times, Amy Chozick with “Liz Holmes Wants You to Forget About Elizabeth.” Many on social media are questioning if this story — including its photos — is too sympathetic to Holmes, but I didn’t read it as sympathetic at all. I applaud Chozick’s honest work.
- The Star Tribune’s Hunter Woodall with “‘What happens if I am killed?’ Rep. Ilhan Omar speaks out about threats.”
- Strong words from New York Times sportswriter Joe Drape: “At Churchill Downs, Humans Failed the Horses Again.”
More resources for journalists
- Subscribe to Local Edition by Poynter faculty Kristen Hare, to find out what’s working in local news and fresh opportunities for local reporters.
- Editorial Integrity and Leadership Initiative — (Sept. – April, 2024) (Hybrid) — Apply by May 15.
- Save the date! Poynter’s Bowtie Ball is Nov. 18 at the JW Marriott in Tampa, Florida. Get tickets.
- Sign up for Beat Academy (Now-Oct. 19) (Webinar series) — You’ll get tips, sources, inspiration and ideas to cover emerging newsroom beats. Enroll now.
Have feedback or a tip? Email Poynter senior media writer Tom Jones at tjones@poynter.org.
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