CNN Tells Viewers Kenosha is ‘Fiery But Mostly Peaceful’ as Fires Rage in Background

Rudy TakalaAug 27th, 2020, 1:55 pm
 

CNN described the scene in Kenosha, WI as “fiery but mostly peaceful” as the network treated viewers to images of the city going up in flames.

“Fiery but mostly peaceful protests after police shooting,” a CNN chyron on Tuesday morning said as Omar Jimenez reported on developments in the city. “What you’re seeing is one of multiple locations that have been burning over the course of the night,” Jimenez said. He added: “What you are seeing came in stark contrast to what we saw over the daytime hours in Kenosha and into the evening, which were largely peaceful demonstrations in the face of law enforcement.”

Social media users have widely mocked the broadcast. One user reworked the image of Jimenez on the screen to include a fire-breathing dragon, with a chyron that said, “Fiery but most peaceful protests” in Westeros, a fictional city in HBO’s Game of Thrones series.

Another image — which included the late terrorist leader Osama bin Laden next to Rob O’Neill, the American SEAL who killed him — featured a chyron that said, “Austere religious scholar killed in home invasion.” (The Washington Post last year drew criticism for a headline in which it described the terrorist leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi as an “austere religious scholar.” The paper later changed that headline.)

CNN

Here’s a sampling of the social media criticism:

This isn’t the first time CNN has drawn attention for showing viewers scenes of mayhem the network has described as “peaceful.” CNN’s Dan Simon in June described Seattle’s Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone as a “street festival” that was largely “peaceful” even as a protester tried to destroy his shot. MSNBC’s Ali Velshi also drew attention in May during a report in Minneapolis, telling viewers it was “not, generally speaking, unruly,” as a building went up in flames behind him.

Watch above via CNN.

Tags: