As usual, many media outlets and “journalists” jumped on the false narrative that a Colorado Rockies fan was loudly shouting the N-word at a game. Their eagerness to smear a random man as a racist based on unclear audio should not be forgotten.
The Rockies investigated the claim and determined that the fan had actually been yelling out the name of the team’s mascot, Dinger. Steve Staeger, an anchor at 9NEWS in Denver, Colorado, reached out to the man, who said he was calling out to the mascot to get a picture with his grandchildren. Available video backs up that story.
Of course, the Rockies’ investigation doesn’t absolve the organization of its own role in whipping up the fake narrative. The team’s initial statement condemned the unnamed fan and threatened to ban him once it identified him, as the team was “disgusted at the racial slur by a fan directed at the Marlins’ Lewis Brinson.”
Freelance writer Drew Holden compiled a list of media outlets that uncritically accepted the Rockies’ framing, but there are a few particularly egregious examples to note. USA Today columnist Bob Nightengale called for the fan to be jailed. Nightengale’s “apology” bemoaned that he sees racism every day, which is why he was so easily fooled.
“It was easy to believe because I’m around so many racist people everyday” is an interesting defense. https://t.co/BcxY7i9RbM
— Ben McDonald (@Bmac0507) August 9, 2021
Michael Lee at the Washington Post decided all the fans sitting in that area were racist because they didn’t do anything about the slur that wasn’t used. USA Today’s Mike Freeman justified the reaction as “another sign of a divided nation.” You see, the media being completely wrong is something that can’t be blamed on the media. It’s just a result of “life experience.”
.@MikeFreemanNFL: What word did you hear that Rockies fan yell?
The answer probably depends on your life experience.
— USA TODAY Sports (@usatodaysports) August 9, 2021
Holden’s thread captures journalistic malfeasance from the New York Times, CNN, the Washington Post, the Associated Press, USA Today, NBC News, Sports Illustrated, and ESPN, among others. Some other shining examples include the New York Daily News promoting its story on Twitter after it had already been debunked and Brinson, the Marlins player who was at-bat during the incident, ludicrously saying his “personal opinion” is that he still hears the N-word when watching the clip.
This is what happens when we have a media ecosystem that has decided the United States is racist and every example must be accepted at face value. The Rockies falsely accused one of their own fans of racism because they knew the media would rake them over the coals if they didn’t offer a harsh condemnation, even before any investigation took place. And no one involved will learn anything from this.
