CNN’s Sara Sidner Gets Candid Talking About Covering Minnesota Protests: ‘I’m Not Leaving, This Is My Job’

CNN correspondent Sara Sidner got personal as she looked back on everything she witnessed over the last week of being on the ground in Minnesota after the fatal police shooting of Daunte Wright.

Sidner joined Brian Stelter on Sunday for a Reliable Sources segment on what reporters on the ground experienced — even being confronted — as the Minnesota protests grew more and more heated. This prompted Stelter to ask Sidner “how do you navigate” her live coverage from the protests as the situation continues to escalate.

“You navigate it by doing your job,” she said. “You’re out there to show what is happening and out there to show what is really going on.”

Sidner continued by calling out Minnesota Governor Tim Walz (D) for saying he “deeply regrets” police misconduct against journalists, but showing no demonstrable change in their practices. She made this point by connecting the arrest of CNN’s Omar Jimenez (who was detained during the George Floyd protests), to the forceful detainment of CNN producer Carolyn Sung.

The fact that they ask Carolyn — who is an excellent producer who cares deeply about the stories that she goes out and covers — the fact that they were asking her after throwing her to the ground ‘Do you speak English?’ What does that tell you about the mentality of the police that grabbed her? It is not okay and it should not be a regret. It should stop. It should change.

As Sidner decried the “extreme” reaction police have taken with the protesters, Stelter brought up the recent incident where she was confronted by one man who went off on her and the rest of the media. When asked about the man’s claim that the media makes these situations “worse,” Sidner responded that “we’re out here to tell the story.”

If we don’t show up, guess what happens? We get slayed for not being there to show what’s going on. So there is this dichotomy that we are constantly juggling, and there is a reality too, if there are cameras there, then people are shown, sometimes it encourages more people to an area that may have nefarious ideas. But we’re just reflecting what is happening out there. So to that gentlemen, I said ‘Look, if you want to talk about the issues, let’s talk about them, right now, you’re live on TV.’ He did not believe me, but we were live on television. He had a platform to the world at that moment in time, and that is all we’re doing. We are here to reflect what is going on in the society.

Sidner concluded by saying that attacking the press “isn’t doing a whole lot of good” when anyone with a smartphone is capable of documenting the Minnesota protests.

“As I said then, we’re not going away,” She said. “I’m not leaving. This is my job, but I care about the community as well and I want to tell the stories, both the good and the bad. Whatever is happening.”

Watch above, via CNN.