People Are Claiming Mainstream News Media Outlets Are “Ignoring” the Death of Cannon Hinnant
George Floyd was murdered by a white cop back on May 25, 2020. This event struck up a lot of anger in the country. The world broke out into chaos with protests that, in some cities, changed into riots and violence. The media was covering George Floyd’s death. It was hard to turn on the news in the months following and not see something about Floyd’s death or Black Lives Matter.
That’s why many people are infuriated when the media's reaction to the killing of a 5-year-old, Cannon Hinnant, on August 9th, 2020 in Wilson, North Carolina, by a black man, was a lot less than the reaction to George Floyd’s death.
Cannon Hinnant was riding bikes with his two sisters when their neighbor, Darius Sessoms, approached and shot Cannon. A motive for the killing is still unknown, with race being a possibility. Though some say race isn’t an option for a motive because of the families having a past of getting along. News channel CNN wrote after an interview with Cannon’s father, “Sessoms, 25, and the victim's family had no issues, Hinnant said, adding that he had the suspect over for dinner a day before the shooting. Both men sat on his porch and sipped beer, he said.” After Sessoms shot and killed Cannon, he ran off, fortunately to be caught and put in jail soon after.
After the incident, many of the mainstream media platforms did not cover the death of Cannon Hinnant. Some of these platforms include ABC, CNN, CBS, New York Times, the Washington Post, and NPR. Many people were outraged at the media ignoring young Cannon’s gruesome murder story. Platforms came out with ways to bring attention and awareness to incidents that the mainstream media will not cover such as the hashtag trending right now in honor of Cannon, #SayHisName. News Break wrote, “The blackout of coverage on the murder of the young boy has sparked the hashtag #SayHisName on Twitter.”
People believe the race of the victim, white, and the suspect, black, is the reason those platforms didn’t cover Cannon’s story. John Cody for Remix writes, “Despite the dramatic death of the boy, many are pointing out that the race of the victim and the perpetrator may be a big factor why major news outlets have ignored the story”. After the internet’s backlash, platforms like CNN finally covered Cannon’s story.
People are angry that tragic homicides of white people by black people, like Cannon’s, aren’t covered by the media. They think it shouldn’t have taken backlashing an outlet for them to tell young Cannon Hinnant’s story. Here are some things people have to say about the situation:
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