“NBC Nightly News” anchor Lester Holt called it a “deep breath moment” for our country. ABC “World News Tonight” anchor David Muir called it a “rare moment” when the country stops and comes together to focus on one thing.
How true.
The nation stopped and then held its collective breath when word came down Tuesday afternoon that a verdict had been reached in the trial of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin in the killing of George Floyd.
All three major networks (ABC, CBS and NBC) did something you almost never see when it comes to a court case: They broke into regularly scheduled programming to air the verdict.
“CBS This Morning” co-host Gayle King, who was in Minneapolis, said, “It’s one of those things you dropped whatever you were doing. We just received word, we rushed over and here we are. … As we wait to hear the verdict, I can tell you this: The atmosphere in Minneapolis is very intense but I can also say it’s very hopeful.”
The verdict, reached much sooner than most expected, put cable news and major networks into filling-time mode. Most of that part of the coverage was good. Networks shined when they explained court procedure, the makeup of the jury and, as CNN did in great detail, a recap of the charges. That was especially helpful, even for viewers who have been paying attention to the trial but not necessarily to all the intricacies of the charges. In fact, throughout this coverage, CNN’s team of legal experts, especially Elliot Williams and Areva Martin, were superb in their knowledge of the case, analysis of the trial and in passing along context through their own experiences.
Another fine moment: ABC News’ legal analyst Sunny Hostin pointing out that the jury did not ask the judge or the court one question while deliberating. Not one question — about clarification of the law or anyone’s testimony or anything. That, along with the quickness of the verdict, according to Hostin’s experience, seemed to predict guilty verdicts for all three charges.
These are when the TV news outlets did their best work: explaining facts and analyzing what those facts might indicate.
This part of the coverage was not so good when it was ramping up the anxiousness that we all felt by speculating on worst-case reactions to not guilty verdicts. CNN did a bit of that. But CNN wasn’t alone in pointing out the country’s fears and then playing into those fears.
Then again, it’s hard to criticize any network that’s filling time on such short notice and, especially so, in such an emotional case.
Then came the verdict.
Guilty. Guilty. Guilty.
NBC political analyst Eugene Robinson said what much of the country was feeling: “I just exhaled for the first time in more than an hour since we learned we were going to have a verdict. And one of my first thoughts was, you know, it shouldn’t have been this hard, right? … You know, we haven’t reached our destination on the racial reckoning that we need to have in this country. But I think this will be seen as a step forward, as opposed to what it potentially could have been seen as, which would have been a giant step back.”
On CNN, anchor Don Lemon said, “Justice has been served.”
His CNN colleague, Van Jones, said, “One down. Many more to go. Sometimes when we fight, we lose. But sometimes when we fight, we win. The people won.”
Jones then talked about Darnella Frazier, the brave teenager who held up her cell phone to videotape Chauvin kneeling on Floyd’s neck, causing his death.
“She did the right thing,” Jones said.
MSNBC’s Jason Johnson said, “What this says to me is that in order to get a nominal degree of justice in this country, that a Black man has to be murdered on air, viewed by the entire world, there has to be a year’s worth of protest.”
About the verdict, MSNBC’s Joy Reid said, “The reality is, the verdict today was not just against this police officer. It was against the kind of — that was mounted for him. It’s the same kind of defense that was mounted in the Rodney King case, the Black superman who, no matter how much violence you commit against his body, can raise up, even from the dead in the case of George Floyd, and pose a threat. The thought of a Black man as an inherent threat, a Black body as an inherent threat, that’s what Derek Chauvin’s defense tried to use in his defense.”
That defense wasn’t successful.
“The whole world just got to see that: Derek Chauvin led away in handcuffs,” MSNBC anchor Brian Williams said. “Depending on the disposition of sentencing, Derek Chauvin may not see the light of day again. … Nine minutes and 29 seconds. Prosecution told the jurors, believe your own eyes. In this case, they have.”
Another highlight of the coverage was the networks getting reactions from citizens in Minnesota who gathered outside the courthouse and where Floyd was murdered to listen to the verdict.
“I have to tell you, when the verdict was read… we started hearing horns honking,” King said from Minneapolis. “I think you felt jaws dropping. I think people thought maybe you would get one, but to get all three I think is a very stunning thing.”
One powerful moment came when a 31-year-old Black woman who has lived in the Twin Cities for a decade told NBC News’ Gabe Gutierrez, “Tomorrow, we go on to Daunte,” referring to Daunte Wright, a 20-year-old Black man shot and killed by a police officer in suburban Minneapolis earlier this month.
Also on NBC, Holt talked to Princeton professor Eddie Glaude, who said, “The jurors recognized that George Floyd’s life mattered. Justice is a practice, not an end. Justice is a practice, not an end. Now the hard work begins. We have this moment and thank God. But this is just the beginning.”
What’s next? Sentencing will take place in eight weeks. Could an appeal overturn the verdict or lead to a new trial?
On Fox News, Judge Jeanine Pirro said, “Make no mistake, the facts are solid on this verdict. This verdict will be upheld on appeal.”
Also on Fox News, commentator Juan Williams called it a “very emotional moment,” adding, “It would have been so upsetting, it would have been a kick in the stomach, if in this most extreme situation … if the jury had somehow said let’s split the verdict.”
Fox News couldn’t get through the coverage, however, without stepping in some controversy. Not surprisingly, Tucker Carlson started his show with a chyron that read: “Can we trust the way this decision was made?”
Carlson also interviewed conservative Candace Owens, who, true to form, kicked up trouble seemingly for the sake of kicking up trouble. She actually said this: “What we’re really seeing is mob justice. And that’s really what happened with this entire trial. This was not a trial about George Floyd and Derek Chauvin.”
Owens then criticized the media, said the repeated showing of the video of Floyd’s death didn’t provide context and victim-blamed Floyd. She then said, “This was not a fair trial. No one can say this was a fair trial.”
Also on his show, Carlson said, “And it seems like nobody has more faith in the system after this, on either side.”
There’s more. After the verdict, commentator and now late-night host Greg Gutfeld shockingly said, “I’m glad (Chauvin) was found guilty on all charges, even if he might not be guilty of all charges. I am glad that he is guilty of all charges because I want a verdict that keeps this country from going up in flames.”
The comment was so outrageous (“even if he might not be guilty of all charges”?) that even his fellow Fox News colleagues audibly groaned before Pirro lashed out at Gutfeld.
Aside from those disgusting moments on Fox News, the major and cable news networks did an outstanding job on a day that we knew was coming, but still came sooner than expected. The networks adjusted on the fly. The coverage wasn’t perfect, but it was good.
Holt’s final words
Here’s how Lester Holt wrapped up his “NBC Nightly News” broadcast on Tuesday evening:
“Finally, what many tonight are considering justice served — the death of George Floyd had become, for many, a powerful symbol of racial injustice and police brutality. And now the verdict on Derek Chauvin is in, a jury of his peers finding him guilty. ‘Believe your eyes,’ said the prosecutor — and they did. Most likely, however, this is not the last word in a case that has forced us to look at those 9 minutes and 29 seconds as a reflection of where we are and what we don’t want to become as a nation. As we have seen just in recent days and weeks, it has not stopped deadly confrontations between the police and Black men. But tonight, the family of George Floyd has received justice in a Minneapolis courtroom. What happens on America’s streets might tell us if there is a deeper reckoning in the tragedy of George Floyd.”
Reid’s final words
