Why Won't The Media Cover The Killings Of More Black Men?

Tyre Nichols was one of too many, but many others did not receive as much coverage.

by Kat Sewon Oh, FAIR

Every news outlet was talking about it. On January 7, 29-year-old Tyre Nichols was brutally beaten by Memphis police officers, and he died three days later. The incident was captured on video, and the gruesome footage sparked nationwide outrage.

Calls for police reform were reignited (NPR, 1/31/23), echoing the uproar regarding George Floyd’s murder in 2020. Political leaders paid their respects, with Vice President Kamala Harris speaking at Nichols’ funeral, and President Joe Biden acknowledging Nichols’ parents during his State of the Union address. Biden, Harris and other Democrats pushed to revive the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act, which has twice failed to pass in the Senate (Washington Post, 2/1/23; Guardian, 2/6/23).

The citizens of Atlanta protest the murder of Tyre Nichols. He was, unarmed and beaten to death in Memphis Tennessee by 5 police officers.

The attention was warranted. And yet, in the month of January 2023, at least 17 other Black men were killed by police—with next to no media coverage.

A search for Tyre Nichols’ name returns 65 results at the New York Times in January. The same search returns 58 results at the Washington Post and 49 at the Wall Street Journal.