Politics

Ocasio-Cortez Shames News Outlet For Not Hiring A Black Journalist To Cover 2020 Elections

By Jesse Korman, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=70354087

Democratic New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez shamed a news outlet on Twitter for not including a “single black journalist” to cover the 2020 election season.

With the 2018 midterms already in the rearview mirror, newsrooms across the country are preparing for the presidential elections less than two years away. Ben Mitchell, an associate producer for CBS News, publicly announced Friday his company’s official 2020 election team.

It’s Official: The @CBSNews 2020 Election Team has assembled! https://t.co/0GBCw4mj7s pic.twitter.com/E0rUDAkzf7

— Ben Mitchell (@bfmitchell) January 11, 2019

The eight-member team of reporters and four-member team of associate producers includes a diverse mix of Asian, Hispanic, white and female staffers.

However, the team was not acceptable for one new member of the House of Representatives.

“This WH admin has made having a functional understanding of race in America one of the most important core competencies for a political journalist to have, yet [CBS News] hasn’t assigned a *single* black journalist to cover the 2020 election,” Ocasio-Cortez — a representative of New York’s 14th Congressional District — tweeted Saturday night.

This WH admin has made having a functional understanding of race in America one of the most important core competencies for a political journalist to have, yet @CBSNews hasn’t assigned a *single* black journalist to cover the 2020 election.

Unacceptable in 2019. Try again. https://t.co/h7tmiBr9Fi

— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) January 13, 2019

“Unacceptable in 2019. Try again,” she wrote.

When an editor from the National Journal, Josh Kraushaar, pointed out Ocasio-Cortez’s media criticism resembled that of President Donald Trump, the self-identified Democratic socialist doubled down.

Or: maybe having powerful editorial positions awash in people from one race, class, or gender isn’t a good idea; since we get 1000% more takes on “brown lady says a curse word” than an actual white supremacist in Congress.

If you won’t look the mirror, people will do it for you. https://t.co/P0PVfsTE4t

— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) January 13, 2019

Ocasio-Cortez’s mention of “brown lady says a curse word” was likely a swipe at the media attention Rashida Tlaib, a Muslim congresswoman from Michigan, garnered when she called Trump a motherf****r shortly after being sworn into office.

When Kraushaar pointed out the diversity of CBS’s team, the liberal congresswoman responded by making fun of him.

For what it’s worth, the mix of 7 embedded campaign reporters looked racially diverse (at least based on last names), with the exception of lacking an African-American.

If there aren’t strict racial quotas for every batch of hires, does it mean a company is racist? https://t.co/T05hTagRby

— Josh Kraushaar (@HotlineJosh) January 13, 2019

Now I am tempted to change my Twitter name to:

“Alexandria ‘looked racially diverse (at least based on last names)’ Ocasio-Cortez” https://t.co/sttXLoD4J3

— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) January 13, 2019

She continued her Twitter feud with Kraushaar well into Sunday, suggesting a scenario in which CBS hired an entire team of non-white journalists.

Like, imagine if the world was flipped & CBS hired an all-poc team to cover 2020, & someone said “hey, white voters are really influential in presidential elections, especially in the Midwest. You should have some white journos who get that” & someone said “I found a Serbian guy”

— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) January 13, 2019

You’d say “that’s cool, but not the same thing as this very crucial electorate, maybe hire someone from the Midwest w/ intimate understanding” and they just throw their hands up and say “now you’re calling me racist?”

It’s like that ??? meme but reading the newspaper every day

— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) January 13, 2019

Data shows Ocasio-Cortez has quickly dominated with social media outreach. The left-leaning lawmaker garnered 11.8 million Twitter interactions between Dec. 11, 2018 and Jan. 11, 2019 — more interactions than five top news outlets combined in the past month.

However, Ocasio-Cortez still remains significantly behind Trump’s Twitter influence, which includes 39.8 million interactions.

Follow Jason on Twitter.