It was predictable that mainstream media outlets would seek to deep-six the fact that the perpetrator who killed three students and three staff members at a private Christian school in Nashville identified as transgender, but Reuters isn't getting away with its attempt to sway the narratives that are already emerging following the tragedy.
Hours after authorities in Nashville had confirmed the assailant's name and transgender status on Monday afternoon, Reuters tweeted its story on the shooting Tuesday morning with a caption that is as staggering as it is predictable.
"Former Christian school student kills 3 children, 3 staff in Nashville shooting," Reuters' official account posted to Twitter along with the link to its coverage. Yes, really.
Former Christian school student kills 3 children, 3 staff in Nashville shooting https://t.co/rQBgths2TI pic.twitter.com/6egl9SHSZM
— Reuters (@Reuters) March 28, 2023
Anyone reading Reuters' headline without knowing the rest of the details of the tragic story would glean what, exactly? That a "former Christian school student" had carried out unspeakable evil, that's what. Reuters' framing on the story is a nonsense attempt to sanitize the full truth and paint former Christian school students in bad light. Rather than accurately reporting that Christians were the victims of Monday's violent attack, Reuters tried to make them the perpetrators. It could even be considered victim blaming.
The evil that transpired on Monday in the halls of Nashville Covenant School was a premeditated, politically motivated hate crime that targeted children, teachers, and administrators at a Christian school, carried out by an individual who identified as transgender and left behind a still-undisclosed manifesto. Yet it took Reuters until the eighth paragraph to quote Police Chief John Drake as saying the assailant "identified as transgender."
It's almost like The Washington Post headline calling ISIS terrorist Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi an "austere religious scholar." It's sad and absurd, and Reuters has been getting called out ever since the outlet posted its tweet.
The media wants you to believe that the leading causes of death in the U.S. are whiteness, the Second Amendment, and Christianity https://t.co/fXEv4aAa5G
— Sam Mangold-Lenett (@Mangold_Lenett) March 28, 2023
This is certainly one way to frame the story. https://t.co/D6U7x7tuZs
— T. Becket Adams (@BecketAdams) March 28, 2023
Journalists of America: tweets like this from @reuters are why so many people do not trust you, do not respect you, and actively hate you. If you can't understand why based on this tweet, you're part of the problem. https://t.co/8aUCFWO046
— Erick Erickson (@EWErickson) March 28, 2023
Reuters, though, has apparently not learned anything from the blowback it received since Tuesday morning. Following another update from Nashville authorities, Reuters tweeted their running story again. And, despite using more words this time around, still fail to tell the full story, only quoting police stating the assailant was receiving medical care for an "emotional disorder."
Police said Audrey Hale, a 28-year-old former student at the Covenant School, had been receiving care from a doctor for an ‘emotional disorder,’ and had purchased seven weapons legally, including two assault weapons and a handgun used in the assault https://t.co/3zRJtS7Lvp
— Reuters (@Reuters) March 28, 2023