Source: Kevin Dietsch / Getty
UPDATED: 11 a.m. ET, June 27
Originally published on June 26
CNN is pushing back against claims it is not offering press credentials to Black media outlets to cover the presidential debate in Atlanta on Thursday night.
The cable news network said hundreds of journalists had already been credentialed and implied that any outlet not granted them must have missed the deadline to apply for them. Now, CNN added, there’s no more room for any other members of the media to attend the first in-person face-off between President Joe Biden and Donald Trump of this election cycle.
CNN addresses claims of Black media being denied presidential debate press credentials
CNN issued a press statement on Thursday, less than 24 hours after outrage grew on social media amid reports that Black media wasn’t being granted access to the debate.
“We are happy to welcome more than 800 journalists from around the world to Atlanta this week to cover the CNN Presidential Debate,” CNN said in a statement sent to NewsOne. “Information about how to apply for media credentials was made available to the public on May 15 in the announcement and confirmation of a debate. Unfortunately, due to size and security constraints, we are unable to accommodate additional credential requests following our June 7 application deadline.”
Conspicuously missing from that statement was any reference to the demand issued by the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) for CNN to grant debate press credentials to at least 10 Black-owned media outlets.
But CNN’s message was clear: No more journalists will be credentialed to cover the debate regardless if it adversely and disproportionately affects Black media.
What happened?
Journalist Roland Martin on Wednesday first brought attention to the issue by posting on social media that CNN “has not issued ANY credentials for tomorrow night’s debate to ANY Black-owned media outlets.” He specifically asked Emily Kuhn, CNN’s senior vice president of public relations, why “every Black newspaper in ATLANTA” was “denied” credentials, calling it both “despicable” and “pathetic.”
Later that day, the editor-in-chief at the Atlanta Voice, one of the city’s oldest Black newspapers, told the Atlanta Black Star that CNN’s treatment of Black media was “disrespectful” and “tacky” yet “typical of CNN.”
That prompted the CBC to issue its demands.
Speaking on behalf of the CBC, CBCPAC Chairman and New York Rep. Gregory Meeks said it was “totally unacceptable” that Black media were apparently being singled out while granting hundreds of other outlets access, including the international press.
It was in that context that Meeks blasted CNN for the “egregious oversight” of seemingly intentionally excluding Black media. Meeks demanded at least 10 Black media outlets be credentialed for the debate.
“This afternoon we learned that CNN has credentialed 800 members of the media for the first presidential debate of the election cycle. Not one represents a Black-owned media outlet. CNN’s exclusion of Black-owned media represents an egregious oversight and is totally unacceptable,” Meeks said. “CNN must immediately credential Black-owned media outlets ahead of tomorrow night’s debate. Failure to do so is a choice, an offense to Black Americans, and cannot stand. We are calling on CNN to credential a minimum of 10 Black-owned media outlets for tomorrow’s debate.”
Meeks added: “Black-owned media provides a critical, trusted source of information to our communities and their role in our democracy must be respected and honored by CNN.”
On Thursday, the National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ) appealed to CNN to make an exception in this case.
“No matter the reason the local Black Press was not approved, in regard to guidelines, we are asking CNN to create space to ensure fair and balanced coverage so that all citizens have access to real-time content from the debate,” NABJ said in a statement.
CNN implies Black media was too late
The Atlanta Black Star reported that CNN said the deadline for media credentials for the debate expired earlier this month, suggesting that no Black media outlets applied for access in time. CNN told the Atlanta Black Star in an email that it was “unable to accommodate any additional credential requests” since the deadline had passed.
There appeared to not have been any outreach from CNN to Black media to invite them to apply for debate media credentials, unlike the apparent damage control being undertaken on Thursday.
The Biden Campaign said it was advocating for Black media to be credentialed for the debate to no avail.
As a result, the Biden campaign scheduled a gaggle for Black media to meet with its Communications Director Michael Tyler in the hours before the debate on Thursday.
There have only been two presidential debates scheduled this year. The next debate is slated to be held on Sept.10 at a location that has yet to be determined.
Why it’s particularly important for Black media to cover the presidential debate
“The Black Press serves as a primary news source for many Black Americans, who are key voices in the voting process,” NABJ also said. “CNN is hosting the debate in a place that is commonly called the ‘Black Mecca’ of the U.S. because of the rich and influential Black culture there. It is critical to ensure Black-owned and operated media are present and have prime placement to record, create, and share content for their audiences.”
Without Black media representation in general, Black communities’ fleeting trust in the mainstream media could become further eroded, Eric Ward, executive vice president of Race Forward, wrote in an op-ed for NewsOne last year.
“Black America is not only receiving less access to journalism, but the news we do have access to is less likely to represent us or the concerns of our communities,” Ward wrote prophetically at the time. He added later: “This leaves Black communities even more susceptible to the disinformation and misinformation that is coursing through the internet.”
The reports about CNN refusing to credential Black media at the presidential debate come months after the Pew Research Center found that nearly 25% of Black Americans said they get their news from Black media, in particular.
“These outlets, which have a long history in the U.S., are defined as those created by Black people and focused on providing news and information specifically to Black audiences,” Pew found. “Another 40% of Black adults say they sometimes get news from such outlets.”
This is America.
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