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Former ABC anchor Janai Norman had harsh criticism for her old network and the way it’s covered the mysterious death of Nolan Wells.
In late July, Norman posted a series of videos of YouTube titled, “Nolan Wells Coverage Through a Media Literacy Lens.” The second video, posted July 28, took a closer look at Michael Strahan’s Good Morning America’s interview with Wells’ parents.
Wells, 18, was found dead after disappearing during a Fourth of July boating trip with friends to Horn Island off the Mississippi coast — the only member of his group who didn’t return from the boat excursion, even though his cellphone did.
Norman first took issue with Strahan asking Wells’s parents why they think he would “stay behind” Horn Island after his friends left. The friends denied having any involvement in Wells’s disappearance and death, and claimed he stayed on the island.
“The question should have been, ‘Do you believe that?’” Norman said, “not asking these grieving parents to defend a decision that we don’t even know for certain their deceased son made. That was not an objective question. Subjectively, I would say that it was insensitive. It also absolves authorities because, as I showed you before, that’s not just the friend’s version of what happened. That’s now authorities’ official version.
“Many news organizations haven’t yet learned that they cannot always trust law enforcement as primary sources of credible information, and that is what plays into racial divisions.”
Norman then accused ABC of “ignoring the historical context of Mississippi,” noting the state has “the most recorded lynchings in history.”
“According to his parents, they say he had messages that appeared to be deleted,” Norman continued. “The body didn’t wash up with the tide on Sunday. They didn’t find it until Monday. It’s being immediately ruled an accidental drowning. By ignoring that context, news organizations become complicit in upholding white supremacy, and — whether intentionally or unintentionally — end up playing into racial divisions.”
Norman’s 15-year run at ABC came to an abrupt end in April. It was reported at the time that ABC declined to renew her contract.
The post Ex-ABC Anchor Trashes Network Over Handling of Nolan Wells Story: ‘Complicit in Upholding White Supremacy’ first appeared on Mediaite.
